



GopyiightN^, 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



THE ^ ' '^ 

40 



ReSOUI^CES of pALIFOI\^NIA; 



COMPRISING THE 



SOCIETY, CLIMATE, SALUBRITY, SCENERY, 

COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY 

OF THE STATE. 



JOHN S. HITTELL.! 



SIXTH EDITIOK, REWRITTEN. 



T-q'St 



SAN FRANCISCO: 
A. ROMAN & COMPANY. 

NEW YORK : W. J. WIDDLETON. 
1874. 



Edtered according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand eight hundred and 
seventy-four, 

By a. ROMAN & CO. 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 






BACON i COMPAN 



"NTERS, SAN FRANCISCO. 



•Preface to the jSixth Edition. 



I write the resotirces of a State, which, though young in years, small 
in population, and remote from the chief centers of civilization, is yet 
knoAvn to the furthest comers of the earth, and during the last twenty- 
four years has had an influence upon the course of human life and 
the prosperity and trade of nations, more powerful than that exerted 
during the same period by kingdoms whose subjects are numbered by 
millions, whose history dates back through thousands of years, and 
whose present stock of wealth began to acciimulate before our continent 
was discovered, or our language was formed. I write of a land of 
wonders. I write of California, which has astonished the world by 
many marvelous facts in her history, and by the singular forms assumed 
by nature within her limits ; by the great migration that suddenly 
built up the first large Caucasian community on the shores of the 
North Pacific ; by her vast yield of gold, amounting to $1,000,000,000, 
preceptibly affecting the markets of labor and money in all the leading 
nations of Christendom ; by the rapid development of her commerce ; 
by the swift settlement of her remote districts ; by the prompt organiza- 
tion of her government ; by the liberality with which the mines were 
thrown o^ien and made free to all comers ; by the rush of adventurers 
of every color and of every tongue ; by the high rates of her interest 
and wages ; by the vast extent of her gold-fields, and the facility 
with which they could be worked ; by the auriferous rivers in which 
fortunes could be made in a week ; by pliocene streams richer than 
those of the present era ; by beds of lava, which, filling up the 
beds of pliocene rivers, were left, after the erosion of the banks and 



IV PREFACE. 

adjacent plains, to stand as mountains, marking the position of great 
treasures beneath ; by nuggets, each worth a fortune ; by the peculiar 
nature of her mining industry ; by new and strange inventions ; by the 
washing down of mountains ; by filling the rivers of the Sacramento 
basin with thick mud throughout the year ; by six thousand miles of 
mining ditches ; by aqueducts less durable, but scarcely less wonderful, 
than those of ancient Rome ; by quicksilver mines surpassing those of 
Spain ; by great deposits of sulphur and asphaltum ; by lakes of borax ; 
by mud volcanoes, geysers, and natural bridges ; by a valley of roman- 
tic and sublime beauty, shut in by walls nearly perpendicular and more 
than three-quarters of a mile high, with half a dozen great cascades, in 
one of which the water at two leaps falls more than the third of a mile ; 
by a climate the most conducive to health, and the most favorable to 
mental and physical exertion — so equable on the middle coast that ice 
is never seen and thin summer clothing never worn, and that January 
differs in average temperature only eight degrees of Fahrenheit from 
July ; by a singular botany, including the most splendid known group 
of coniferous trees, of which half a dozen species grow to be more than 
two hundred and fifty feet high, and one species has reached a height of 
four hundred and fifty feet, and a diameter of forty feet in the trunk ; 
by a peculiar zoology, composed chiefly of animals found only on this 
Coast, and including the largest bird north of the Equator, and the 
largest and most formidable quadruped of the continent ; by the im- 
portation in early years of all articles of food, and then by the speedy 
development of agriculture, until her wheat and wine have gone to the 
furthest cities in search of buyers, and until her markets are unrivaled 
in the variety and magnificence of home-grown fruits ; by the largest 
crops of grain, and the largest specimens of fruits and vegetables on 
record ; by a society where for years there was not one woman to a score 
of men, and where all the men were in the bloom of manhood ; by the 
first settlement of Chinamen among white men ; by the rapid fluctua- 
tions of trade ; by the accumulation of wealth in the hands of men, most 
of whom came to the country poor ; by the practice, universal in early 
years, of going armed ; by the multitude of deadly affrays ; by extra- 
constitutional courts, which sometimes punished villains with immcdi- 



PREFACE, V 

ate execution, and sometimes proceeded with a gravity and slow modera- 
tion that might become the most august tribunals ; and by the estab- 
lishment of what may be considered as a new nationality, with mental, 
literary, physical, and social characteristics differing from those of other 
portions of the American Union, although not aspiring in any way to 
political separation. 

I am so much attached to Califoraia, that I could not live contentedly 
elsewhere ; and I imagine that neither the earth, the sky, nor the people 
of any other country, equal that of this State. I confess that I am an 
enthusiast in her behalf and if I fail to do justice to her merits it will 
not be for lack of affection. Neither will it be for any lack of attention 
or industry. During the last twenty years, I have assiduously collected 
every thing within my reach relative to the industry, resources, natural 
history, and population of the State. I have looked through the news- 
papers published between Crescent City and San Diego, and have ex- 
amined all the books written about the country, Spanish, French, and 
German, as well as English. I have been in the extreme north, and 
the extreme south ; I have gone to both extremities by land and sea ; 
I have traveled through her great interior valley, from Shasta to Tejon ; 
I am intimately acquamted with her most fertile valleys and her most 
productive gold-iields ; I know sonaethiug of her mining and agriculture 
by experience and practice ; and finally, I have endeavored to compress 
into this book all the important attainable facts. 

I write of California while she is still youthful, and full of marvels ; 
while her population is still unsettled ; while her business is still fluctu- 
ating, her wages high, her gold abundant, and her birth still fresh in the 
memory of men and women who have scarcely reached their majority ; 
and I write of her while she still offers a wide field for the adventurous, 
the enterprising, and the young, who have life before them, and wish to 
commence it where they may have a free career, in full sight of great 
rewards for success, and with few chances of failure. 

Some passages of this sixth, as well as of previous editions, were origi- 
nally written for other publications, and though they first appeared 
anonymoiisly, are still mine. 

I add as appropriate to this place, and as indicative of the feelings 



VI PREFACE. 

common among the old Califomians towards the State of their adoption, 
the following address, which I delivered before the Society of California 
Pioneers, at their nineteenth celebration of the admission of the State 
into the Union, on the 9th of September, 1869. 

I congratulate you upon meeting again at this, our nineteenth annual 
assemblage, to commemorate the organiiiation of our State, and the 
formation of the nucleus of the American Empire on the Pacific, to 
revive the recollection of the impressive scenes witnessed in the early 
days of pioneer life, and, if possible, to give additional stimulus to our 
affection for California, our chosen home, to which we are bound by a 
multitude of cherished memories, by soul-stirring associations which no 
other land could have supplied to us. The ideas called up to-day belong, 
however, not exclusively to the anniversary of the admission of our 
State into the Union, and its attendant incidents. In this celebration 
we cannot overlook the facts that in this year fall the centennial anni- 
versaries of the first white settlement of California, the discovery and 
naming of the Bay of San Francisco, and the first appearance of white 
men on the site of our city. And this year has witnessed an event of 
world-wide interest and of especial importance to us — the completion of 
the Pacific Railroad — forming a grand climax for the close of the first 
century of Californian civilization, that began with one of the lowest and 
ends with one of the highest phases of human society. We seem to 
have leaped at one bound from the bottom to the top of the ladder of 
progress. 

The first era of California, that of Indian dominion and savage life, 
extends from an unknown and remote antiquity to 1769. In an epoch 
that belongs not to history or tradition, but to geology, while the Sac- 
ramento Basin was a great lake, while the higher parts of the Sierra 
Nevada were covered with glaciers, and still earlier, while numerous 
volcanoes were pouring out their lavas to form the northern portion of 
the Sierra, men lived upon its slopes, as their bones, their mortars, their 
pestles, their spear-heads and arrow-heads, then deposited in deep beds 
of gravel, and of late brought to light, bear witness. We have no con- 
chiflive evidence that the Diggers found here by the first Spanish ex- 
plorers, more than three hundred years ago, had been preceded by a dif- 



• 



i 



PREFACE. TU 

ferent race. The tradition that the Aztecs came from this Coast, and the 
theory that the North American Indians are descendants of Asiatics, 
are not sustained by any trvLstworthy proof. The aborigines were not 
able to adapt themselves to high civilization, and they are not repre- 
sented among us to-day. They have left no art, no custom, no monu- 
ment, (except a few mounds, the accumulation of *hells, bones, coral, 
and ashes, around their rancherias) no original thought, no recollection 
of a noble deed, no tongue, only a few proper names, (such as Sonoma, 
Napa, Petaluma, Suisun, Tuolumne, Mokelumne, etc.) to remind us 
of their existence. 

The second era, that of Spanish dominion and ascetic ideas, lasted 
fifty-three years, beginning on the nth of April, 1769, when the brig 
San Antonio arrived at San Diego with the first party of white men 
who came to make a permanent settlement in what was then Upper or 
New California, and is now simply California. This settlement was 
under the control of Franciscan friars, whose purpose was to convert 
the Indians. Some soldiers accompanied the missionaries to protect 
their persons and property, and soon a white lay population began to 
grow up ; but the dominant interest was that of the friars, and most of 
the inhabitants recognizing Spanish authority were Indian converts. 

The Franciscans held that the chief virtues of life were chastity, 
celibacy, poverty, and abject humility, and the chief duties were fre- 
quent recitation of prayers, the mortification of the flesh, the sacrifice 
of the passions, and the renunciation of all social pleasures and secular 
interests for the sake of beatitude in a future existence. Twenty-one 
missions were founded, none more than thirty miles from the ocean ; 
the first and most southern at San IKego, in 1769, the last and most 
northern at Sonoma, in 1823. 

In July, 1769, a party under the supervision of friar Juan Crespi 
started by land to examine the coast northward. After journeying for 
three months among savages who showed no hostility, in October he dis- 
covered and named our bay, reached the site of our city, and here turned 
back. Seven years later the Mission of San Francisco was established. 
Seven years hence — in 1876 — we shall celebrate the centennial anni- 



VUl PREFACE. 

versary of the -white settleraeut of San Francisco, and also the centen- 
nial anniversary of the independent existence of our nation. 

The Missions were in their best condition in 1814, (after -which they 
"were injured by the stoppage of pay and other consequences of the Mexi- 
can Revolution) but they continued to increase in population and prop- 
erty until 1826, -when they had 24,611 Indian neophytes, 215,000 head 
of neat cattle, 135,000 sheep, and 16,000 horses, and harvested 75,000 
bushels of grain. The fi-iars of the ascetic era have all disappeared. 
Of their converts only a fe-w hundred remain, and those, -with rare ex- 
ceptions, no longer occupy their old homes. Most of the MLssions have 
served as centers round -which to-wns have been built. Some of the 
adobe churches still stand as monuments of the indiistry of the neo- 
phytes, guided by friar architects. The oldest building of our city, 
erected more than half a century since, though lately renovated, is the 
church at the Mission, dedicated to St. Francis, the founder of the 
Franciscan Order, the preeminent hero of asceticism, whose name has 
been adopted by the San Franciscans, but whose practice is not followed 
by them, as the taste, the fashion, the beauty, the wealth, the luxury 
represented by this auditory, may testify. 

The third era, that of Mexican dominion and pastoral life, lasted 
twenty-four years, beginning on the 9th of April, 1822, when the inde- 
pendence of Mexico from Spain was formally proclaimed and fu'st offi- 
cially recognized at Monterey, the capital of the territory. The white 
population increased slowly. The Mexicans were not a colonizing peo- 
ple. The journey from Sonora by land was long and beset by many hard- 
ships and dangers. The advantages of California were not generally 
kno-wn or appreciated. Most of the men who became prominent under 
Mexican dominion were officers or soldiers, or the sons of soldiers, sent 
out to protect the Missions. IMost of the early immigrants came at the 
request and with the assistance of the Government. On the 29th of 
November, 1777, the first to-mi was established at San Jose by a party 
of fourteen families, which had started from Sonora two years before ; 
and on the 4th of November, 17S1, the pueblo of Los Angeles was 
founded by another party. The rancheros and town people never 
agreed very well with the fi'iars, who became subordinate in influence 



PKEPACE. IX 

to the military and civil authorities soon, after the Mexican flag was 
hoisted. The Indians ceased to obey their teachers, neglected their 
work, and plundered the Mission property. In 1835 the Missions were 
secularized — that is, orders were issued that part of the herds and agri- 
cultural implements should be distributed among the neophytes and 
rancheros, and the remainder should be disposed of for the benefit of 
the public treasury ; but most of the property was soon in the possession 
of the chieftains and their friends. In 1842 only 4,500 Indians remained 
at the Missions, some of which had been deserted by the fiuars. 

The Mexican Californians lived an idle, easy life. Their only income 
was derived from the hides and tallow of their neat cattle, which throve 
on the wild grass in the open country. They had no work and little 
worry. They were happy ; they did not know any better. They had 
few excitements, and many of them had no anxieties. Most of them, 
and some of the old American residents, have regretted the change 
which has since taken place. From various miseries of life, common 
elsewhere, they were exempt. They had no lawyers, doctors, tax- 
gatherers, or newspapers ; no steamboats, railroads, stage coaches, post- 
offices, regular mails, or stove-pipe hats. Bedsteads, chairs, tables, 
wooden floors, and kid gloves, were rarities. They were a large, active, 
hardy, long-lived race, who made up by their fecundity for the failtire 
of the friars to contribute to the population of the territory. It was 
fashionable in those days to have large families. Ignacio Vallejo had 
twelve children ; Joaquin Carrillo, (of Santa Barbara) twelve ; Jose 
Noriega, ten ; Jose Argiiello, thirteen ; Jos6 Maria Pico, nine ; Fran- 
cisco Sepiilveda, eleven ; Jose Maria Ortega, eleven ; and Juan Bandini, 
ten. These were all the founders of the large families of their respect- 
ive names, and in most cases the progenitors of all of their name in the 
State. In the second generation there was no decline. Nasario Berrey- 
esa had eleven children ; Jose Sepiilveda, twelve ; Guadalupe Vallejo, 
twelve ; Josefa Vallejo, eleven ; Feliciano Soberanes, ten ; and Jos6 
Antonio Castro, twenty-five. An old lady, named Juana Cota, died some 
years ago, leaving five hundred living descendants at the time of her- 
death. There have been wonderful changes in California. 



X PREFACE. 

As the children nearly all married, and the white families were not 
very numerous, (there were only seven hundred ranches or country 
estates in 1846) it happened that nearly everybody was the relative of 
everybody else by blood or naarriage, and where these two bonds failed, 
the spiritual relation of godfather or godmother supplied the deficiency. 
All were cousins or compadres (co-fathers). They were all one large 
family, not only willing but glad to entertain their relatives, and glad 
to be entertained. Time with them was not money ; knowledge was 
not power. Leisure, horses, beef, and beans — the essentials in those 
days for making long journeys — were abundant, and so their life was 
a succession of paseos and _^estas— riding and feasting. 

But the social good feeling did not prevent political troubles. The 
Supreme Government at Mexico sent out carpet-bag Governors, who 
were expelled. Los Angeles and Monterey, the North and the South, 
contended for the Territorial Capital. The personal interests, the am- 
bitions, of the Picos, Carrillos, Noriegas, Castros, Alvarados, and Val- 
lejos, for the honors and profits of civil and military office, led to con- 
tests in which soldiers were frequently called out ; but the revolutions 
were not very bloody, for only one man was killed in them previous to 

1845, and he by accident. And yet they were brave, as they proved in 
the battle of San Pascual, when Gen. Kearney narrowly escaped destruc- 
tion. From 1835 to 1846 these political troubles continued to increase 
in seriousness, and many of the leading men, having appealed in vain 
to Mexico for aid, were discussing the question whether they should not 
solicit the protection of England or the United States — the predominant 
influence being decidedly in favor of the latter — when the discussion 
was suddenly arrested by the conquest. 

The American commercial era of California began on the 7th of July, 

1846, when the Stars and Stripes were permanently hoisted at Monte- 
rey. An adventurous Boston boy — a mozo Bostones, as the old Spanish 
record calls him — took up his residence at Santa Barbara in 1 794, and 
John Gilroy, a Scotch sailor, near death, was allowed to come ashore at 
Monterey in 1814; but with those exceptions Anglo-Saxons did not 
begin to establish themselves in California until after the overthrow of 
the Spanish authority opened the ports to foreign vessels, and the land 



PREFACE. XI 

to foreign settlers. Whalers and smugglers, mostly American, had for 
years been familiar with the coast. Boston merchants, engaged in buy- 
ing hides and tallow, and selling cheap calico and trinkets, soon made 
their appearance, and they were followed by others of different occupa- 
tions. Abel Stearns, Alfred Robinson, Henry Melius, W. D. M. How- 
ard, T. O. Larkin, Wm. Dana, D. A. Hill, Henry D. Fitch, David 
Spence, and W. E. P. Hartnell, arrived by sea before 1840. In 1825, 
thirty trappers under Jedediah Smith crossed the Sierra Nevada, about 
latitude thirty-nine degrees, and were the first white men to reach Cali- 
fornia overland from the Mississippi Valley. They all went back, but 
the information which they circulated induced two other parties of 
trappers to come in 1827, one of which entered the State at Fort Yuma, 
and thus the middle and southern trans-continental trails were opened. 
Among those who came with trapper parties were Yount, Wolf skill, 
Workman, Sparks, Leese, and Graham. In 1839, Sutter came by sea 
and established his fort, subsequently an important center for American 
influence. Workman, after his first trip with the trappers, returned to 
New Mexico, where he had lived, and induced a considerable party of 
his friends and neighbors to come to this Coast. The largest migration 
from the valley of the Rio Grande came in 1841, and included the Vaca 
and PeHa families. In that same year, Joseph Chiles, of Missouri, came 
to California, and in 1842, went back with information that here people 
could live without work, and cattle without shelter or cultivated food ; 
that fertile land could be got by the league for nothing ; that it would 
be very valuable as soon as it should be covered by the American flag, 
and that annexation was inevitable and not far distant. His statements 
had much influence. The next year a party, including Bid well and 
Reading, came; in 1844, another; in 1845, another, including Hensley 
and Snyder. Those who came overland, by their numbers and skill 
with the rifle, got the preponderance north of San Pablo Bay ; the com- 
mercial immigrants settled on the southern coast, and there obtained a 
powerfiil influence by superior education, ability, and marriage into the 
leading families. Anglo-Saxon husbands were married to five Carrillos 
of Santa Barbara, three Carrillos of Santa Rosa, four Noriegas, four 
Bandinis, three Ortegas of Santa Barbara, two Vallejos, and one Sobera- 



XU PREFACE. 

nes. Some of them were English, but they were all glad of the change 
of government, and they induced the great majority of the Californians 
to submit qviietly -when the Stars and Stripes -were hoisted. There 
was some resistance, but it was almost hopeless fi-om the first. The 
American Cabinet had determined to own California, and indeed there 
is good reason to believe that, but for the expectation of getting this 
country, they would not have taken up arms when they did. Soon 
after the first encounter — on the Rio Grande — orders were issued to 
recruit a regiment of men in New York to serve in California, with the 
understanding that they should remain here as citizens after the war. 
Those only were to be received who would be suitable settlers for a new 
country. On the 29th of September, 1846, they sailed ; on the 6th of 
March, of the next year, the first vessel arrived in our bay. They had 
little military duty to perform, but many of them have since become 
prominent men. 

The gold discovery was made on the 19th of January, 1848, a month be- 
fore the treaty of Guadulupe Hidalgo was signed, and five months and 
a half before peace was finally proclaimed and the American title to Cali- 
fornia acknowledged by Mexico. In June the whole ten-itory was ex- 
cited, and on the 20th of September the first public notice of the dis- 
coveiy printed in the Atlantic States, so far as I can learn, apijeared in 
the Baltimore Sun, attracting little attention. Letters of army officers 
and small shipments of dust began to an-ive in November, followed soon 
by fuller and more favorable accounts, and in January the States were 
in a fever. It was then that most of us determuied to seek our fortunes 
in the distant El Dorado, in a land almost iinknown to geogi-aphy, on an 
ocean almost unknown to commerce. Those near the Atlantic started 
to double Cajje Horn ; those in the Mississippi Valley to cross the Kocky 
and the Snowy mountains. It was a bold adventure to go to a remote 
country of which we knew little, to engage in a business of which we 
inew nothing. IMost of us, after getting our outfits, had no money left 
to bring us back, or support us in case of adversity. The amount of 
gold which had arrived from the mines was small, and the statements 
that there were rich claims for all who might come, were not justified 
by the knowledge of that time, though they were proved to be correct 



PREFACE. Xlll 

by subsequent discoveries. But the excitement was up, and we were not 
disposed to be critical or skeptical. The start was accompanied by the 
warnings of the old men, the tears of the women, and the envious and 
congratulatory remarks of our associates who wanted to come and could 
not. It was an impressive occasion, full of bright hopes and dark fore- 
bodings for many who remained, as well as for all who came. 

Of the unorganized army of 20,000 men who, in May, 1849, broke 
camp at various points on the banks of the Missouri River between Coun- 
cil Bluffs and Independence, to march to the land of gold, I was one. A 
few had pack animals or miile teams, but most had oxen — three yoke and 
three men to a wagon, in which we had provisions for a year, as there was 
then no stock in the mines, and we knew not when we should find a 
supply. All were armed for defense. As for the men, we were the 
flower of the West: nearly all young, active,' healthy, many well edu- 
cated, all full of hope and enthusiasm. In our ignorance of the nature 
of auriferous deposits we expected, unless exceptionally unfortunate, to 
strike places where we should dig up two or three hundred pounds of 
gold in a day without difficulty. In visions by day and in dreams by 
night, we saw oiirselves in the possession of treasures more splendid than 
those that dazzled the eyes of Aladdin. We compared ourselves to the 
Argonauts, to the army of Alexander starting to conquer Persia, to the 
Crusaders. Our enthusiasm was maintained by our numbers. The road, 
as far as we could see by day from the highest mountains, was lined with 
men and wagons ; at night the camp-fires gleamed like the lights of a city 
set on a hill. Our brightest anticipations suffered no diminution as we 
advanced on our journey ; vexatious and tiresome as many of the days 
were, we never forgot, we never doubted, the reward that was to com- 
pensate us. The long march of two thousand miles, (for we were 
nearly all afoot, and there were no seats in the wagons) the fording and 
ferrying of cold and swift rivers, the repeated preparation for Indian 
attacks of which false alarms were spread, the tedious guarding of the 
cattle at night, the long inarches over the desert, the oppressive heat and 
the still more oppressive dust of the alkaline plains, the toilsome ascent 
of the mountains, which seemed so steep that we doubted whether our 
oxen could climb up — all these were borne, if not cheerfully, yet 



XIV PREFACE. 

without regret that we had ventured upon them. I can mention but I 
cannot describe the anxiety of finding that a desert which we expected 
to cross in forty miles was much longer, and on being told by a man 
who met us that he had been thirty miles further and found no sign of 
grass or water. Our oxen were already exhausted, and such a distance 
was impracticable. Nobody that we knew had been over the road, nor 
had we any guides. We went on, however, and found two families — 
men, women, and children — in tears, their oxen all dead, themselves 
helpless. We still pressed on, and the next morning we and the unfor- 
tunate families were in camp at an oasis, and fiddling and dancing fol- 
lowed the suffering. Neither can I describe the delight with which we 
looked down from the summit of the Sierra Nevada over the distant 
valley of the Sacramento, dim and golden in the rays of the setting sun. 
We had come to dig for gold, and nearly all who came by land went 
to mining. Though we did not make so much as we had hoped, we 
still found the placers wonderfully rich. It was no uncommon event 
for a man alone to take out five hundred dollars in a day, or for two or 
three, if working together, to divide the dust at the end of the week by 
measuring it with tin cups. But we were never satisfied. Others were 
getting more : we were not making enough. We went prospecting far 
out into the districts occupied by hostile Indians ; we found diggings 
that would at last make millionaires of us ; but in the midst of our re- 
joicings we ran out of provisions, and had to live for days on grass and 
acoms, picked from the holes in trees where they had been placed by 
woodpeckers. We had to meet the savages in battle ; and more danger- 
ous than that, we had to swim the large mountain torrents in full flood 
height. For months we slept under no shelter and saw no house. And 
worst of all, our diggings, which we had gone so far and risked so much 
to find, at last deceived us. They were not so rich as we imagined ; the 
water gave oiit, and we were not numerous enough to keep up a guard 
at all points against the Indians. All these things I went through in 
person, and my experience was, perhaps, not so eventful as that of most 
pioneer miners. The expenses, the time spent in traveling and prospect- 
ing, and the lack of all the luxuries and many of the comforts of life, 
made many of us think it was cheaper to get gold in any other way 



PREFACE. XV 

than by digging for it in the placers. "We abandoned the mines. Our 
bright dreams of becoming millionaires by washing the sands of the 
Sierra Nevada were all dissipated. Nor have we, as a class, made large 
fortunes in other pursuits, and of those who have, not a few have lost 
them again. But when we look back at the interval of twenty years, 
we do not regret that we became pioneers. We had demanded of Cali- 
fornia that she should fill the purses of every one with gold. She re- 
fused that demand to many, but she gave to all a cherished home, a 
sunny and genial sky, a fertile soil, a delightful landscajje, a clime 
suited to the development of every energy, the companionship of the 
most intelligent and enterprising people, and a site suited for a great 
city and for the concentration of the comra.erce of a wealthy coast. She 
gave us the greatest relative abundance of gold known in the world. 
She compressed, within a few years, the progress that elsewhere would 
have required a century. Our business has been unparalleled in its 
activity. Our lives have been a rapid succession of strong sensations. 
Great wealth has hovered about us all, within reach of all, and if many 
of us did not know the precise moment for grasping it, still we have for 
years been interested in the chase ; and perhaps the active excitement of 
pursuit has given us more pleasure than we covJd have enjoyed in posses- 
sion. Many of us have gone back to the Eastern States, intending to 
make homes there, but found the attempt a complete failure. Life was 
a dull and commonplace routine ; once accustomed to the whirl of Cali- 
fomian speculation and the cordiality of Californian society, we could 
not live without them. 

For a long time we could not think or speak of this as home. We had 
started with the expectation — the promise — of soon retui-ning. When 
we first saw the brown mountains and the bare plains of California in 
the fall of 1S49, it did not occur to us that we should ever want to live 
here. There was nothing here to reward ambition save gold. Our 
mothers, sisters, sweethearts, wives, remained in "the States,'' and for 
years we longed to get back to them. And they, deprived by unjust 
and oppressive social rules of an equal chance in the race of life, hoped 
that we would come to give them our companionship and assistance. 
The affections of a million families throughout the civUized world were 



XVI PREFACE. 

fixed upon California by such bonds. The sorrow caused by these sepa- 
rations — the disappointments that resulted from many causes — were 
great. One of those who looked in vain for the return of her Califor- 
nian, [Mrs. Akers] wrote these pathetic lines : 



' Why don't he come ? He said the leaves then springing 

At his return should still be fresh and green ; 
How oft they've sprung and faded without bringing 

His truant footsteps to his hearth again ! 
At first, there came soft oft-recurring token. 

As if to save his memory by the sign ; 
■Wliat need ? Can they forget, who bow heart-broken 

At Memory's shrine ? 



" Why don't he come? Not all the glittering treasures 

That freight the navies through the Golden Gate 
Can buy me back my heart's once healthful measures, 

Or check the current of my hastening fate — 
Dispel the gloom in which I am benighted — 

Restore the lost, I live but to deplore — 
Eevive again my hopes all dashed and blighted — 

For evermore. 

" Why don't he come ? Like traveler belated, 

Perhaps he stays and slumbers by the way : 
Where was he faring when with greed unsated 

Death claimed the weary wanderer as his prey ? 
Did I but know, to seek his nameless ashes 

My soul would garner all its wasting fires, 
Like the spent taper which a moment flashes 

And then expires." 

None of the great battles in the late war broke so many heart-strings 
and caused such wide-spread pain, as did the Calif omian gold migration ; 
but on the other hand, scores of thousands of families which would have 
otherwise suffered the privations of life-long poverty, were placed in 
comparative comfort by the remittances of their friends in the mines ; 
and that the general influence of California on society ha.s been highly 
beneficial, there is no room to doubt. 

The sudden rise of the gold production to sixty million dollars ; the 
excitement aboiit Kern River, Eraser River, Washoe, and White Pine ; 



PREFACE. Xvii 

the Vigilance Committee ; the great fires and floods ; the development 
of our agriculture and horticulture to surpassing excellence in some 
branches ; the introduction of the Panama and river steamers ; the con- 
striiction of the Panama Railroad ; the establishment of the pony ex- 
press, overland stage line, the trans-continental telegraph, and the trans- 
Pacific steam line ; and last of all, the completion of the Pacific Railroad 
— all these have made epochs in our lives. In the consciousness and 
memory of every pioneer, however slight his importance may be for 
others, the history of the State since he arrived here is an important 
part of his personal history. Some of us can hardly look at a prominent 
land-mark, between Shasta and San Bernardino, without recollectino- 
that it is associated with some interesting incident of his personal ex- 
perience. 

In San Prancisco, the chief port, the metropolis, the main pleasure 
resort, the center of wealth and luxury on our Coast, life could not be 
dull. Existence received a zest from the powerfully tonic effect of the 
climate, impelling all to the open air every day, the excitements of fre- 
quent public demonstrations, the stimulus of an extraordinary throng 
of business, the composite character of the population representing every 
leading nation in a small space, and the all-prevailing influence of an 
enterprising daily press that gave expression and intensity to every 
phase of an excitable public feeling. The building of long wharves, the 
cutting down of high hills, the filling of the coves, the construction of 
a site as well as of the city to occupy it, were wonders that never lost 
their interest. For years our only communication with the Atlantic 
States and Europe was by semi-monthly steamers, which in large in- 
stallments and at relatively long intervals brought us all our news and 
our immigrants, and carried away our gold and our Californians going 
to visit Eastern friends. The proportion of the arrivals and the depart- 
ures to the population, and of the treasure shipment to the business, 
was so great, that steamer day was a shock that was felt throughout the 
State. Nearly everything we consumed, save the cereals, fresh fruits, 
fresh meats, and coarse furniture, was imported from the North At- 
lantic, from which we were five months distant ; that is, we could not 

obtain goods until five months after we ordered them from here. The 
B 



XVlll PREFACE. 

smallness of our stocks and our distance from all large markets offered 
facilities for forestalling, and gave to mercantile business a speculative 
character, the influence of which was felt in all classes of society. The 
abundance of money, the rapid growth of the city, the wonderful pro- 
ductiveness of the Washoe silver mines, and the success of forestalling 
speculations, made many fine fortunes and stimulated everybody to 
aspire after wealth. The Latin poet longed for a life of ease, with 
dignity ; the Califomian longs for a life of speculation, with success. 
Whatever else may be said of the Pioneers, they will not be accu.sed of 
rusting out. 

Nor will it be said of them that the passion which drove them to 
incur the dangers, the privations, and the toils of adventure in an un- 
settled and almost unknown country, was sordid. They risked their 
lives and exerted all their energies for gold, but with no miserly feeling. 
They spent their money as fast as they made it, too many even faster. 
Not parsimony, but extravagance, distinguishes the State. Yet it is not 
a base extravagance. Our community is highly intelligent ; our pleas- 
ures are intellectual and refined. Our numerous charities, our munifi- 
cent contributions to the Sanitary Fund, our free schools, our public 
libraries, our frequent concerts, the liberal patronage of the theaters, 
this elegant temple of the drama [the California Theater] in which we 
have to-day assembled, suggest the dominant feelings and tastes of San 
Francisco. Great men have made their preferred home among us, and 
found here their most appreciative friends. It was among us that Baker 
and Starr King reached their highest flights of oratory. They were 
with us in life, they remain with us in death. Grant, Sherman, and 
Sheridan spent many of their best years in our State, and were here 
prepared for the responsible service to be performed after leaving us. 
Halleck and Yale have contributed works of permanent value to our 
legal literature ; Dwindle, Randolph, and Tuthill have shown eminent 
ability in their historical labors. Our poetry, our humorous writings, 
our pictures, have done credit to us at home and abroad, though but 
beginnings. 

The companions of Cortez in his conquest of the Aztec Empire — even 
the poorest and most ignorant of them — were distinguished and pointed 



PREFACE. XIX 

out as coiupn'stadorea as long as they lived ; and it appears to me that 
we pioneers accomplished a •work, different in many respects from that 
of Cortez, but not altogether unlike in the spirit in which it was under- 
taken and the importance which it assumed. We did not subdue and 
plunder the great empire, but we founded a new one, which already, in 
twenty years, occupies a more important place in commerce and industry 
than Mexico, with three centuries of ciTilization and eight millions of 
people. The exploits of the Mexican conquistadores did not find an ap- 
propriate and immortal record till Prescott wrote in our own time ; the 
adventures and labors of the Califomian pioneers may go as long before 
they are told in a history that will charm men to the remotest age. If 
I were a poet and felt myself capable of maintaining the epic flight, I 
think I could find in the great Califomian gold discovery and its results, 
a subject more congenial to the taste of this age, richer in impressive 
suggestions, in strange and romantic incidents, and generally in the 
material for a great poem, than the conrpiest of Troy or Jerusalem, the 
adventures of Ulysses or Eneas. 

Much we have seen, more we shall see. Our State is the Italy of the 
New World, possessing a dower of beauty not inferior to that of the 
Latin Peninsula ; but, unlike that, not destined to be fatal in its at- 
traction. The descendants of the Goth, the Vandal, and the Hun, who 
crushed the ancient civilization of Italy under their fierce barbarism, 
of the German, the Frank, and the Spaniard, whose favorite battle-fields 
for centuries were the plains of Lombardy and Naples, will come not to 
contend with us in arms, but to compete with us in arts. We shall 
gain victories and celebrate triumphs more numerous and more glorious 
than those of Republican and Imperial Rome, but our triumphs will be 
those of good will — the triumphs of the architect, the road builder, the 
engineer, the inventor, the farmer, the miner, the scientist, the author, 
the painter, the musician, the orator. They will be celebrated not by 
processions, with generals riding in gilded cars, dragging captive kings 
in chains, but by intellectual gatherings, art exhibitions, and industrial 
fairs. The highest civilization will make one of its chief centers here. 
The coast valleys from Mendocino to San Diego, on account of the mild- 
ness and equability of their climate, surpassing even that of Naples, will 



XX PREFACE. 

be the favorite place of residence for many thousands from abroad. 
They Avill fill the land with wealth, luxury, and art. California will 
occupy in the hemisphere of the Pacific, as a focus of intellectual cul- 
ture, a position similar to that long held by Attica in the basin of the 
Mediterranean. Looking confidently forward to such a result, hoping 
to see much of it accomplished in our own tinxe, let us endeavor to lay a 
broad, solid, and generous foundation for the political, industrial, and 
educational greatness of our State ; let us be proud that we have taken 
part in a work which has contributed much and will contribute more to 
stimulate commerce and to extend civilization ; and, as a consequence, 
to enrich and benefit mankind : a work which will be forever prominent 
in the history of humanity. 

J. S. H. 
San Francisco, August ist, 1863. 



NDEX OF Chapters. 



CHAPTERS. SECTIONS. PAGES. 

I. TOFOGKAPHY ito 17 I to I3 

IT. Society i8 to 6i 14 to 85 

III. Cl.lMATR 62 to 85 86to U3 

IV. SAy.mjurrY 86 to 100 114 to 139 

V. ScENEUY loi to 118 140 to 161 

VI. Commerce 119 to 132 162 to 181 

VII. Manufact'UREs 133 to 147 182 to 207 

VIII. Agriculture 148 to 215 208 to 295 

IX. Mining 2 16 to 258 296 to 333 

X. Geology 259 to 279 334 to 352 

XT. Botany 280 to 299 353 to 374 

XII. Zoology 300 to 346 375 to 419 

XIIT. Law 347*0355 420 to 426 

XIV. TopoGRAPnicAL Names 35^*0363 427 to 436 

XV. Conclusion 364 to 366 437 to 443 



NDEX OF JSeCTIONS. 



Topography — Chap. I. 

8ec. Page. 

1 . General Remarks i 

2. Area i 

3. The Coast Range 

4. Coast Rivers 3 

5. Coast Lakes 5 

6. Capes 

7. Islands 5 

8. Bays and Harbors 6 

9. Tule Land 6 

10. Sierra Nevada 6 

1 1 . Rivers of the Sierra 7 

1 2 . Lakes of the Sierra 8 

13. Klamath Basin 9 

14. Enclosed American Basin 9 

15. Colorado Desert 1 1 

16. Counties 12 

17. Maps 12 

Society — Chap. n. 

18. Population 14 

19. Nationalities 15 

20. Occupations and Sexes .. 15 

2 1 . Other Classes 16 

22. Decline of Mining Coun- 

ties 17 

23. Cosmopolitanism 18 

24. State Pride 19 

25. Hospitality 20 

26. Luxurious Living 21 

27. Social Etpiality 21 

28. Physical Characteristics . 24 

29. Publicity of Life 27 

30. Education 28 

31 . Literature 29 

32. Art 29 



Sec. Page. 

33. Religion 30 

34. Deeds of Blood 32 

35. Dialect 35 

36. Californianisms 35 

37. Spanish Californians . . . . 39 

38. Chinese 40 

39. Indians' 48 

40. Mining Towns 5^ 

41. Inland Ports 57 

42. Railroad Towns 57 

43. San Francisco 5^ 

44. Sacramento 64 

45. Oakland 67 

46. San Jose and Santa Clara 69 

47. Stockton "JO 

48. Vallejo and Carquinez.. 71 

49. Los Angeles 74 

50. San Diego 78 

5 1 . Anaheim 79 

52. Santa Barbara 80 

53. Petaluma 80 

54. Grass Valley 81 

55. Marysville 81 

56. Visalia 82 

57. Suisun 83 

58. Yreka 83 

59. Napa 84 

60. Crescent City 84 

61. Humboldt Bay Town.s . . 85 

Climate — Chap. IH. 

63. Main Features 86 

63. Many Climates 87 

64. Sea Breeze 87 

65. Middle Coast 88 

66. San Francisco 90 

67. Hot Days 92 



INDEX OF SECTIONS. 



Sec. 
68. 
69. 
70. 

71. 
72. 

73- 
74. 
75- 
76. 

77- 
78. 

79- 
80 
81. 
82. 

'83- 
84. 
85. 



86. 
87. 



90. 
91. 
92. 

93- 
94. 

95- 
96. 

97- 

98. 

99. 

100. 



lOI. 

102. 
103. 
104. 
105. 
106. 
107. 
108. 
109. 
no. 
til. 



Page. 

Sunrise and Noon 94 

Cold Days 94 

San Francisco Fogs 95 

January and July 96 

Monthly Means 98 

Clear Days 99 

Sirocco 99 

Interior Basins loi 

Rain 102 

Railroad Rain Table. . . . 103 
State Rains for Twenty- 
three Years 104 

Monthly Table, 1849-73. io6| 

Drought and Flood 109 

Dryness of Air 109, 

Length of Days ill 

Thunder Storms in' 

Hail 112 

Sand Storms 112 

Salubkity — CiiAi'. IV. 

Healthy Growth 114 

Infant Mortality 116 

Malaria 119 

Consumption 120 

State Mortality Table ... 123 

Prevalent Diseases 125 

Mineral Waters 125 

Health Resorts 128 

San Rafael and St. Helena 129 

Santa Birrbara 130 

San Diego 131 

Klamath Valley 133 

Earthquakes 133 

Their Frequency 135 

List of Earthquakes 136 

SCENEKY— ClIAP. V. 

Introduatory 140 

Yosemite 140 

Opinions of Tourists.... 141 

The Leading Features.. 142 

Cascades of Rockets 145 

Vegetation, etc 146 

Formation of the Valley . 146 

Hetchhetchy 147 

Big Tree Groves 147 

Mountain Peaks 149 

San Francisco and Vicin- 
ity 153 



Sec. Page. 

1 12. Geysers 155 

113. Petriiied Forest 156 

1 14. Waterfalls 157 

1 1 5. Natural Bridges 1 58 

116. Caves 158 

117. Mirage 1 59 

1 18^. Mud Volcanoes 160 

Commerce — Chap. VI. 

1 19. Situation 162 

120. Volume of Business 163 

121. Shipping 1 64 

122. Currency 164 

123. Wealth of the State 165 

124. Mining Stocks 166 

125. Large Estates 169 

126. Railroads 170 

127. Railroad Terminus 173 

128. Ocean Steamers 174 

129. Telegraphs 175 

130. Harbors 176 

131. Navigable Streams 179 

132. Passes 180 

Mantfactukes — Chap. VII. 

133. Coar.se Work 182 

134. Obstacles 183 

135. Statistics 184 

136. Wages 185 

137. Navy Yard 187 

1 38. Lumbering 1 89 

139. Cod Fishery 190 

140. Salmon Fishery [93 

141. Various Sea Fish 195 

142. Hunting 198 

143. House-building 201 

144. Turpentine, etc 202 

145. Silk. 204 

146. Sulphur and Salt 204 

147. Beet Sugar 206 

Agkicui^tuiie — Chap. VHL 

148. Statistics 208 

149. Colorado Desert Valleys. 209 

150. Valleys of the Enclosed 

Basin 209 

151. Coast V^alleys 210 

152. San Francisco Basin 213 



INDEX OF SECTIONS. 



XXVll 



Sec. Page. 

153. Sacramento-San Joaquin 

Valley 215 

154. Farming Advantages 215 

155. Disadvantages 217 

156. Droughts 218 

157. Fences 219 

158. Varieties of Wlieat 221 

1 59. Quality 222 

160. • Yield 226 

161. Cost 228 

162. Barley 229 

163. Oats 231 

164. Maize 232 

165. Potatoes 232 

166. Hay 233 

167. Hops 234 

168. Tobacco 235 

169. Cotton 237 

170. Kitchen Vegetables 237 

171. Fruit 239 

1 72. Abundance of Fruit 242 

173. Grapes 242 

174. Large Vines and Vine- 

yards 243 

1 75. Varieties 244 

176. Advantages 247 

177. Vine-planting 248 

178. Wine Yield 250 

179. Wine-making 251 

180. Fermentation 252 

181. Kinds of Wine 254 

182. Defects of our Wine 255 

183. Sparkling California 257 

184. Apples 258 

185. Peaches 260 

1 86. Pears 260 

187. Apricots and Plums 261 

188. Olives 261 

189. Oranges 262 

190. Berries 263 

191. Ornamental Gardens 264 

192. Arboriculture ■ 266 

193. Pests of the Farmer 266 

194. Irrigation 268 

195. Reclamation 271 

196. Products of our Herds . . 272 

197. Sheep 272 

198. Neat Cattle 276 

199. Spanish Cattle 276 

200. Rodeos 27S 

201. Brands 281 

202. Early Maturity 282 



Sec. 

03- 

04. 
205. 
206. 

07. 

08. 
209. 

10. 
211. 

212. 

13- 

14. 
215. 



216. 

17- 
218. 
219. 
220. 
221. 
222. 
223. 
224. 
225. 
226. 
227. 
228. 
229. 
230. 
231. 
232. 

233- 
234- 
235- 
236. 

237- 
238. 

239- 

240. 
241. 

242. 

243- 
244. 

245- 

246. 
247. 
248. 
249. 
250. 



Page. 

Corral and Reata 283 

Occasional Starvation . . . 284 

Fine Blood 284 

Pasture 285 

Butter 285 

Cheese 286 

Horses 287 

Mules 289 

Svk^ine 290 

Angora Goats 290 

Poultry 291 

Bees 291 

Sericulture 294 

Mining — Chap. IX. 

Mining Products 296 

Nvimber of Gold Miners. 296 
Profit of Gold Mining.. 298 

Gold Yield 299 

Gold Mines 299 

Placers 300 

Ditches 302 

Flumes 303 

Iron Pipe 304 

Expensive Construction . 305 
Measurement of Water . . 306 

Cleaning Up 307 

Riffle-bars 308 

Double Sluices 308 

Rock Sluices 308 

Hydraulic Washing .... 309 

Ground Sluices 312 

Cradle 313 

Sluice 313 

Pan 314 

Dry Washing 315 

Puddling Box 315 

Tunnel Claims 316 

Shafts 317 

River Mining 317 

Beach Mining 317 

Placer Prospecting 319 

Quartz Mining 320 

Prospecting for Quartz . . 320 
Quartz Mining as a Busi- 
ness 322 

Rich Mines 323 

Extraction 325 

Pulverization 326 

Arrastra 326 

Amalgamation 327 



XXVlll 



INDEX OF SECTIONS. 



Sec. Tage. 

251. Concentration. 327 

252. Chlorination 327 

253. Quiuksilvt-T 328 

254. Silver 330 

255. Sulphiir 332 

256. Borax 332 

257. Hydraulic Cement 332 

258. Coal 333 

GeOI<OGY — ClIAP. X. 

259. Plutonic and Secondary. 334 

260. Tertiary 334 

261. Volcanic 335 

262. Extinct Volcanoes 336 

263. Gold-bearing Rocks 336 

264. Placers 337 

265. Dead Rivers 338 

266. Dead Blue River 338 

267. Fineness of Gold 341 

268. Silver 342 

269. Qnick.silver 342 

270. Platina 342 

271. Other Metals 343 

272. Limestone 343 

273- Coal 343 

274. Asphaltum . 344 

275. Miscellaneous Minerals . . 345 

276. Water 347 

277. Artesian Wells 347 

278. Palieontology 349 

279. Post-Pliocene Man 350 

Botany — Chap. XI. 

280. Fauna and Flora 353 

281. Bijr Tree 354 

282. Redwood 355 

283. Pines 356 

284. Firs 359 

285. Cedar and Cyprus 360 

286. Nutmeg 361 

287. Laurel 361 

288. Madrona 361 

289. Manzanita 362 

290. Oaks 362 

291. Sycamore, etc 364 

292. Poison Oak 365 

293. Varioiis Plants. . 367 

294. Nutritious Herbage 368 

295. Flowers 370 



.''EC. * Pagb. 

296. Desert Vegetation 372 

297. Swamp Vegetation 373 

298. Marine Vegetation 373 

299. Alpine Vegetation 373 

Zoology — Chap. XH. 

300. General List 375 

301. Bears 375 

302. Felines 378 

303. Canines 379 

304. Badgers, etc 381 

305. Sijuirrels 382 

306. Spermophiles 384 

307. Gophers 386 

308. Rats 387 

309. Deer 387 

310. Hare 390 

311. Sea-Lions 391 

312. Otter, etc 392 

313. Vultures 394 

314. Eagles 396 

315. Owls 396 

316. Roadrunners 397 

3 1 7. Woodpeckers 398 

318. Humming-Birds 399 

319. Fly-Catchers 400 

320. Singers 400 

321. Scratchers 401 

322. Waders 404 

323. Swimmers 405 

324. Fishes 407 

325. Salmon 407 

326. Halibut 409 

327. Turbot 409 

328. Sole 409 

329. Mackerel 410 

330. Rock-FLsh 410 

331. Sturgeon 410 

332. Jew-Fish 411 

333. Sun-Fish 41 1 

334. Green-Fish 411 

335. Sea-Bass 412 

336. Sheepshead 412 

337. Smelt 412 

338. Anchovy 412 

339. Sardine and Herring 413 

340. Viviparoiis Fishes 413 

341. Flying-Fish 413 

342. Fresh-Water Fishes 414 

343. Reptiles 414 



INDEX OP SECTIONS. 



XXIX 



Sec. Tace. 

344. Honey -Dew Aphis 417 

345. Shell-Fish 417 

346. Shipworm 418 

Law— Chap. XIII. 

347. Constitution 420 

348. Marriage 421 

349. luheritanoe 422 

350. Conveyance of Land .... 422 

351. Tenure of Land 423 

352. Separate Property 424 

353. Mining Claims 424 

354. Titles to Mines 425 

355. Laws favorable to Debtors 425 



ToroGKAPmcAT, Names — Chap. 
XIV. 

Sec. Page. 

356. New Names 427 

357. Sacred Spanish Nnmes. . . 427 

358. Profane Spanish Names. . 429 

359. Indian Names 431 

360. American Namns 431 

361. Etymology of California 434 

362. Pronunciation of Names. 434 

363. Erroneous Spelling 436 

CONCT.USION— ^ClIAP. XV. 

364. General Summary 437 

365. Slow Growth 442 

366. The Future 442 



IJe^oiifde,^ of Caliiofr^ik. 



ReSOUI^CES of pALIFORJN^IA. 



CHAPTER I. 

TOPOGRAPHY. 



§ 1. General Remarks. — California has a peculiar topo- 
graphy. No other country comprises within so small a space 
such various, so many, and such strongly-mai'ked natural di- 
visions, isolated volcanic peaks, vast domes of granite, steep 
and rugged mountain ridges, fertile and beautiful valleys, 
bare deserts, sjjacious bays, magnificent rivers, unparalleled 
waterfalls, picturesque lakes, extensive marshes, broad prairies, 
and dense forests — all these are hers. 

§ 2. Area. — The reports of the Federal Land Office, pub- 
lished at Washington, say the area of the State is 188,981 
square miles ; but J. H. Wildes, chief draughtsman in the 
office of the Federal Surveyor-General of California, a more 
trustworthy authority, says the nearest approximation that 
can now be made is 155,000 square miles, or 99,200,000 acres. 

The State extends from latitude 32° 31' 59"— that is the 
position of the monument marking the southw^estern corner of 
the State, on the boundary of Lower California — to 42°. The 
coast line is 1,097 miles long. In general shape, California is 
a long parallelogram, 800 miles in length by 190 in width. 
1 



Z RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

The first topographical division of the State may be into the 
Coast and Interior districts, separated from each other by the 
main ridge of the Coast Mountains, which runs the whole 
length of the State, nearly parallel with the ocean, and about 
fifty miles from it. The Coast district may be subdivided 
into the Coast Mountains and the Coast Valleys. The Inter- 
ior district may be subdivided into the Sierra Nevada^ the 
Sacramento-San Joaquin Basin, the Klamath Basin, the 
Enclosed American Basin, and tlie Colorado Desert. 

Of the 155,000 square miles in the State, there are, at my 
estimate, 42,000 in the mountains and valleys of the Coast, 
40,000 in the Sierra Nevada, 30,000 in the low land of the 
Sacramento-San Joaquin Basin, 20,000 in the Enclosed Amer- 
ican Basin, 15,000 in the Colorado Desert, and 8,000 in the 
Klamath Basin. In tlie 42,000 square miles of the Coast 
slope, 16,000 may be put down as valley and 26,000 as moun- 
tain. The term " Basin," as used here, means the entire area 
with a common drainage. Thus, the San Joaquin Basin is the 
region between summits of the Sierra Xevada and the Coast 
Range, south of latitude 38° 20' ; the Sacramento-San Joaquin 
Basin is all between tlie summits of those mountains, from 
Tejon to Mount Shasta. 

§ 3. The Coast Range. — The Coast Range, though not so 
liigh or so wide as the Sierra Nevada, may be considered the 
main orographical feature of California, because it alone ex- 
tends through tlie whole lengtli of the State. Its height is 
from two thousand to six thousand feet ; its width from twenty 
to forty miles. It is composed of a multitude of ridges, of 
Avhich the Diablo Ridge is the main stem, while all the 
others are branches springing out to the westward. We find 
on the map, that in latitude 34" 20' the Santa Susanna 
Ridge branches oiF and runs southwestward ; in 34" 30' the 
Santa Inez Ridge starts and runs westward ; in 34° 40' the 
Santa Barbara Ridge turns Avest northwest ; the Santa Lucia 
Ridge separates from the main trunk in 35°, with a north- 



TOPOGRAPHY. 6 

westward direction ; the Gabilan Ridge lias its origin in 
36° 10', and its course is nortli northwest ; the Contra Costa 
Ridge appears in 37° 10', and is pai-allel with the Gabilan. 
Tliese ridges and their intervening valleys make up the entire 
slope between the summit of the Coast Range and the ocean, 
from 34^* 20' to 38° 30', beyond which line the regularity of 
the formation ceases, and the valleys are small and crooked. 
The Contra Costa Ridge forms the eastern boundary of the 
Alameda plain, and separates Napa from Sonoma Valley. 
The Gabilan Ridge, named after a prominent peak, the Gabi- 
lan, in Monterey County, forms the backbone of San Mateo, 
San Francisco, and Marin Counties, and separates the Santa 
Clara from the Salinas Valleys. The valleys south of the Sa- 
linas are the Cuyama, Santa Inez, and the Saticoy (or Santa 
Clara of the South). The principal peaks of the Coast Range, 
including San Bernardino, are in the Diablo Ridge. 

§ 4. Coast Hivers. — The rivers of the Coast Mountains 
have necessarily but a short course. Those south of the bay 
of San Francisco are the San Lorenzo, Pajaro, Salinas, Cu- 
yama, Santa Inez, Saticoy (or Santa Clara), Los Angeles, San 
Gabriel, Santa Ana, Santa Margarita, San Luis Rey, San 
Dieguito, and San Diego. Some of these are large sti-eams in 
wet winters ; but, in the drought of autumn, all those south 
of the Salinas are swallowed up in the sands before reaching 
the ocean. Most of tliem are constant streams to within ten 
or fifteen miles of their mouths. The Santa Ana, the largest 
river on the southern coast, rises in Mount San Bernardino, 
and is in its nieanderings nearly one hundred miles long ; yet 
only in very wet seasons, once in six or eight years, succeeds 
in getting to the sea. The San Gabriel River sinks before 
reaching Monte, in Los Angeles County, and, after passing 
three miles under ground, rises again. The inteiwening space, 
where there is no river, is very moist, sandy ground, through 
which the water spreads and soaks. 

W. H. Emory, in his report as member of the Mexican 
Boundary Commission, writes thus : 



4 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

" The point at whicli water ceases to flow is quite variable ; 
its more usual upward limit being marked at or near the pas- 
sage of the stream from the first rocky ranges into the tertiary 
formation. The point, however, as before stated, is by no 
means a fixed one : thus, durino; the night it extends farther 
downward than in daytime ; in cloudy weather, for the same 
I'eason, its course is more prolonged than under a clear sky. 
In the stream-beds themselves, however dry, water is gener- 
ally found a short distance below the surface. 

" Tlie descent of these streams in the rainy season may be 
either a gradual ])rocess in the progressive saturation of their 
sandy beds, or, the saturation being accomplished by previous 
showers, tlie ii*ruption may be sudden. A fine example of this 
sudden appearance was observed in the San Diego River, in 
December, 1849 ; wlien, after a rainy night, by which its sandy 
bed was completely saturated, tlie upper stream suddenly ap- 
peared in the form of a foaming body of water, moving on- 
ward at the rate of a fast walk, ciirling round the river-bends, 
absorbing the pools, and soon tilling its bed with a brimming, 
swift current. An instance of the more gradual descent was 
seen in the follo^\ang season, (December, 1850) when, from 
the absence of local rain, its downward progress was slow and 
interru])ted." 

The only navigable stream south of San Francisco Bay is 
the Salinas, and that but for small vessels, and near its month. 

North of San Francisco the main streams rising in the Coast 
Mountains are the Russian, Eel,- Elk, iNfad, and Smith Rivers, 
all permanent, but none navigable. 

The rivers north of the Golden Gate are sometimes closed 
up with sand thrown across their mouths by storms from the 
south, and these barriers may remain for days, the waters 
meantime finding their way through by percolation. The 
Klamath, tlie largest of these streams, has occasionally been 
accessible for vessels of deep draft, but as the sands frequently 
shift their position, the idea of obtaining a permanent or con- 



TOPOGRAPHY. 6 

venient harbor there has been abandoned, at least for the 
present generation. 

§ 5. Coast Lakes. — The only large lake in the Coast dis- 
trict is Clear Lake, eighty miles northward from San Fran- 
cisco. It is twenty miles long, and varies in breadth from 
two to ten miles. Surrounded by a small valley of fertile 
land, it lies in a deep basin bounded by high mountains, with 
an outlet to the eastward, where its surplus waters are carried 
off by Cache Creek to tlie Sacramento. The water of Clear 
Lake is limpid ; the vegetation on its banks abundant and vig- 
orous ; the scenery beautiful and romantic. In Amador Val- 
ley, twenty-live miles eastward from San Francisco, there is a 
small lake, covering a couple of hundred acres, and Soap 
lake, of about equal size, in Pajaro Valley. Lake EUzabeth, 
fort3^-five miles northward from Los Angeles, and Alamo Lake, 
in San Diego County, occasionally di'y up, and then, after wet 
winters, reappear. 

§ 6. Caj^es. — California has two capes : Cape Mendocino, 
in 40° 25'; and Point Arguello, in 34° 25', The former is 
reputed to be the stormiest place oi^ our coast ; the latter is 
the southern limit of the frequent cold fogs and cool sum- 
mers. Near Point Arguello, but less prominent, is Point Con- 
ception, which, however, is frequently mentioned as the main 
cape at the bend of the State. 

§ 7. Islands. — About forty miles westward from San Fran- 
cisco ai'e the Farallones, seven little islands of bare rock, the 
largest with an extent of a couple of acres, and of no signifi- 
cance save as a danger to shipping, and as a point where a 
large lightliouse is maintained. All the other islands of Cali- 
fornia are between 32° 50' and 34'^ 10', the farthest one being 
about sixty miles from the mainland. They are named Santa 
Cruz, Santa Catalina, San Clemente, Santa Rosa, San Nico- 
las, Anacapa, and Santa Barbara. They are all hilly, rocky, 
barren, and of little value, Santa Cruz, the largest and best 
of them, has good water and a Heyv trees. It is twenty-one 



6 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

miles long, with an average width of about three miles. All 
these islands appear to be paaks of submerged mountain- 
ridges. Between them and the mainland lies- the Santa Bai'- 
bara Channel. 

§ 8. Bays and Hurbors. — Cilifornia has four land-locked 
bays — Humboldt, Tomales, San Francisco, and San Diego, all 
of them long, narrow, and separated from the ocean by narrow 
peninsulas, their longer axes being parallel with the coast. 
The roadsteads are numerous. Further mention is made of 
them in the chapter on commerce. 

§ 9. Tale-Land. — Along the borders of most of the bays, 
the Tulare and Kern Lakes, and the Sacramento and San 
Joaquin Rivers, there are extensive tracts of swami3-laads, 
usually called " tule-lauds," from the tule^ a species of rush, 
which grows on them. Neai-ly all the tule-land west of Sac- 
ramento and Stockton, to which points the tides extend, are 
salt marshes; but north of Sacramento and south of Stockton 
the tule-lands ai'e fresh-water swamps. The area of the tule- 
land is estimated to be 3,000,000 acres. 

§ 10. Sierra Nevada — The Sierra Nevada is four hundred and 
fifty miles long (in California) and seventy wide, with a height 
varying from live thousand to eight thousand feet above the sea- 
level. Nearly its whole width is occupied wiih its western 
slope, which descends to a level of three hundred feet above 
the ocean ; whereas the slope on the eastern side is only five 
or six miles wide, and terminates in the Great Basin, which is 
itself from four thousand to five thousand feet above the sea. 
Nearly all the snows and rains that visit the Sierra Nevada fall 
on its western slope, which has all the large rivers. These 
rivers run westward, at right angles to the course of the chain, 
and cut it into steep hills and deep ravines, canons, and chasms. 
The valleys are all small, and it is rare to see a hundred acres 
of level, tillable land, even on the banks of the largest moun- 
tain sti-eams. The greater part of the Sierra Nevada is cov- 
ered with timber. The oak, manxanita, and nut-pine grow to 



TOPOGRAPHY. 7 

about twenty-five hundred feet above the sea ; and then the 
coniferous trees appear, and are found in dense forests to a 
height of six thousand feet. 

§ 11. Rivers of the Sierra. — The low land of the Sacra- 
mento basin, bounded on the west by the Coast Mountains 
and on the east by the Sierra Nevada, which ranges meet both 
at the north and the south, is the heart of the State, four hun- 
dred miles long by fifty wide, reaching from latitude 35° to 
40 '' 30'. It is di'ained by two rivers : the Sacramento, run- 
ning from the north ; and the San Joaquin, from the south. 
They meet and unite in the center of the basin, at 38°, and 
break through the Coast range to tlie Pacific, forming the 
bays of Suisun, San Pablo, and San Francisco, on their way. 
The valley is nearly level, and thirty feet above the level of 
the sea at the junction of the rivers, and two hundred feet 
higher where they issue from the mountains. Part of the Sac- 
ramento Valley shows terraces, the farthest from the river being 
a coarse gravel. The richest soil is on the immediate bank. 
The great body of the valley is bare of trees. Its even surface 
is broken in only one place, by the " Buttes," a range of vol- 
canic hills, six miles wide by twelve long, with three peaks, 
about two thousand feet high, which rise in lonely abruptness 
from the middle of the plain, in 39^ 20'. The general course 
of the two main I'ivers of the basin lies nearly midway between 
the two mountain chains, but almost all their tributaries come 
from the Sierra Nevada, whicli, like the Coast Range, has 
most of its wealth on its western slope. In the four hundred 
miles from Tejon to Shasta, there are a dozen creeks marked 
on the map as flowing eastward from the Coast Range to the 
San Joaquin and Sacramento ; but during the summer, three- 
fourths of them are swallowed up in the sands before reaching 
their mouths. Not one south of 38° is a permanent stream. 
From the Sierra Nevada a number of rivers run westward. 
Beginning at the north, we have the Pit, Feather, Yuba, 
American, Cosumnes, Mokelumne, Calaveras, Stanislaus, 



8 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

Tuolumne, Merced, San Joaquin, King's, White, and Kern 
Rivers — all of them considerable streams, though otliers in 
the southern part of the basin are swallowed up in the sands 
in the dry seasons, before reaching their mouths. The San 
Joaquin Kiver does not rise at the extreme southern end of 
the basin, but one hundred miles northward from it, in the 
Sierra Nevada. After running westwaixi to the middle of the 
valley, it turns northward. From its bend southward, the 
valley discharges no water to the ocean during the summer ; 
but in wet winters there are continuous sloughs, or pieces of 
raarsh-like ground, from the Tejon to the San Joaquin. In 
the dry season, no channel is visible for the escape of the 
waters of Tulare and Kei-n Lakes. 

The rivers flowing down from the Sierra Nevada are about 
one hundred and twenty miles long on an average, following 
their courses. Tlie upper half of tiieir length is in the moun- 
tains, where they are torrents, falling five thousand feet in 
fifty miles. Their beds are in deep canons ; after reaching the 
plain their currents are gentle, and they meander between low 
banks, fringed with oaks, sycamores, cottonwood, and willows. 
In the southern part of the San Joaquin basin there are several 
large streams, which, soon after issuing from the mountains, 
divide into a number of channels, as do some large rivers 
which have deltas near their entrance to the sea. King's 
River, which is about eighty yards wide where it leaves the 
mountains, divides into seven or eight channels, which all 
unite again. The Cahuilla {Kaweah, or Pipiyuraa) River, also 
a large stream, divides into a number of channels, which irri- 
gate " the Four-Creek country," and render it one of the most 
fertile parts of the State. 

§ 12. Lakes of the Sierra. — The Sierra Nevada has few 
lakes. The most notable one is Lake Tahoe or Bigler, about 
twenty miles long and ten wide, and six thousand feet above 
the level of the sea, in latitude 39°, and on the eastern border 
of the State. Part of the lake is in Nevada, and its waters 



TOPOGRAPHY. 9 

flow eastward into Truckee River. In the eastern part of Ne- 
vada County tliere is a group of two dozen lakes, called the 
Eureka Lakes, the largest of which is three miles long and 
a mile wide. In Calaveras County near the summit there is 
a cluster called the Blue Lakes. 

§ 13. Klamath Basin. — North of latitude 41 '^ lies the l)a- 
sin of the Klamath River, which rises in Oregon, crosses the 
Californian line, about eighty miles from the sea, then turns 
south west ward, and, after a course of about one hundred and 
fifty miles, empties into the Pacific in 41* 33'. The basin of 
the Klamath is very rugged, particularly that part of it witliin 
forty miles of the ocean. Along the main river there is no 
valley, or bottom-land ; its whole length is between steep hills 
and moiintains, and through rocky canons. Its largest tribu- 
taries, the Trinity and Salmon, run through a country almost 
as rugged as that bordering the main stream. Scott and Shasta 
Rivers, which are the only other notable tributaries of the 
Klamath — they all flow from the southward — have valleys of 
bottom-land, about Ave miles wide and forty long. 

§ 14. Enclosed American Basin. — A prominent feature of 
the North American Continent is the Enclosed American Ba- 
sin, a triangular district of country, bounded on the north by 
the basin of the Columbia, on the east and southeast by the 
basin of the Colorado, and on the southwest by the Sierra Ne- 
vada and Coast Range. This Great Basin — an elevated tract 
of land, most of which is four thousand or live thousand feet 
above the sea-level, mountainous, barren, and cheerless, with 
no outlet for its waters — extends into this State, taking a strip 
along the eastern border from 34® to 42°. The California 
portion of the Enclosed Basin is one of the driest and most 
sterile parts of the earth's surface, cut up by numerous irreg- 
ular ridges of bare, rocky mountains, with intervening valleys 
of sand and volcanic scorii^, and occasional springs and little 
streams which terminate in lakes, presenting a wide extent of 
muddy salt water after heavy rains, and in the dry season 



10 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

wide beds of dried and cracked mud, covered with a white 
alkaline efflorescence. The chief stream in the California por- 
tion of the Enclosed Basin is the Mojave, which rises on the 
northern slope of Mount San Bernardino, and, after running 
about one hundred miles in a northeastward direction, sinks 
in the sand. The Mojave receives no tributai-ies after it leaves 
tlie side of Mount San Bernardino. After sinking, it rises 
again ; or rather, pools of water are found in the low places of 
its bed, the water evidently soaking through the sand and fol- 
lowing the bed of tlie stream. The next stream in importance 
is Owen's River, which runs southward seventy-five miles along 
the foot of the Sierra Nevada, and terminates in Owen Lake, 
which lies in latitude 36° 25', and is fifteen miles long by nine 
wide. North wai'd, one hundred miles from Owen Lake, is 
Mono Lake, eight miles long and six wide, sometimes called 
" the Dead Sea of California." No fish can live in the water, 
which is so heavy with saline substances tliat the human body 
fioats in it very lightly ; tliough it is so strongly alkaline that 
it scalds the skin. In the midst of the lake is an island sev- 
eral miles long. While the greater part of the Enclosed Basin 
is high above the level of the sea, there is a portion of it, called 
" Death Valley," the sink of the Amargosa River, thirty miles 
long and ten wide, between 36*^ 5' and 36" 35', thi-ee hundred 
and seventy-seven feet below the sea-level, one of the driest 
and most desolate parts of that basin of deserts. About lati- 
tude 40°, the Sierra Nevada seems to divide or fork — one 
branch running north ^fkrd, in the line of the main chain ; the 
other northwestward to Mount Shasta. Between these two 
branches, and between 40*^ and 42'^, is a high table-land or 
plateau, about one hundred and twenty miles long, and five 
thousand feet above the ocean level, belonging to the Enclosed 
Basin. The main stream in this plateau is Susan River, wliich 
after a course of forty miles in an eastward direction, empties 
into Honey Lake, which is twelve miles long by five wide. 
Northwestward from Honev Lake, and distant thirtv mile? 



TOPOGRAPHY. 11 

from it, is Eagle Lake, about half the size of the other. The 
land is barren and the vegetation scanty. Pit River starts in 
the northeastern corner of the State, breaks through the 
plateau, and empties into the Sacramento, to the basin of 
which it belongs. North of the river are Wright Lake and 
Rhett Lake, within iive miles of the Oregon line ; and Goose 
Lake and Lower Klamath Lake, partly in Oregon and partly 
in California. The largest is Goose Lake, tifteen miles long 
and tive wide. Some of the lakes in the Enclosed Basin 
change their character according to the seasons. After abund- 
ant rains they are large, and their water is clear and sweet ; 
after several dry years the watei-s fall, become thick, opaque 
and saline, or entirely disappear. 

§ 15. Colorado Desert. — A district, about seventy miles 
wide by one hundred and forty long, on the soutli eastern bor- 
der of the State, belongs to the basin of the Colorado River. 
It is usually called the " Colorado Desert," because of its bar- 
ren, sandy soil, and scanty vegetation. In some places the 
soil is composed of sand, packed together lirmly, with a hard 
and smooth surface, which rellects light like a mirror ; in other 
places are mountains of loose sand, which are continually shift- 
ing. In latitude 33° 20', and longitude 115° 50', a district 
containing 3,000 square miles is seventy feet below the level 
of the sea. At one time the Gulf of California extended sev- 
eral hundred miles farther north than it now does; and the 
Colorado River, in long ages, deposited on the western edge of 
its channel so much alluvium as to make banks down to the 
present head of the gulf, thus cutting olf from its connection 
with the ocean that part of the gulf now dry. The evapora- 
tion in this desert far exceeds the fall of rain ; so it was not 
long before this lake was dried up. When the Colorado River 
is very high, it breaks over its banks about forty miles south- 
ward from Fort Yuma, and sends a large stream, called New 
River, northwestward, a distance of a hundred miles or more, 
to the lowest portion of the desert. 



12 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

§ 16. Counties. — California has tifty-thre« counties. Those 
in the northern half of the State, are Del Norte, Klamath, 
Humboldt, Mendocino, Modoc, Sonoma, and Marin, on the 
coast ; Lassen, Sierra, Nevada, Placer, El Dorado, and Ama- 
dor, on the eastern border ; and Shasta, Siskiyou, Trinity, 
Tehama, Plumas, Butte, Colusa, Yuba, Sutter, Lake, Yolo, 
Napa, Solano, and Sacramento, inner counties. 

In the southern half of the State, are San Francisco, San 
Mateo, Santa Cruz, Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, 
Los Aufyoles, and San Diego, on tlie ocean ; Mono, Inyo, and 
San Bernardino, on the eastern boundary ; Calaveras, Tuol- 
umne, Mariposa, Fresno, Tulare, Kern, San Joaquin, Stanis- 
laus, Merced, Contra Costa, Alameda, San Benito, and Santa 
Clara, wliicli do not reach to the bordei*. San Diego reaches 
entirely across the State, and is the only county that does. 

§ 17. Maps. — Among the maps prepared by C. F. Hofl- 
mann, of the State Geological Sui'vey, and executed in the finest 
style of topographical work, and with great accuracy, are the 
following : 

1. A map of Central California, on a scale of six miles to 
an inch. It covers an area three hundred miles square, its 
northern line being beyond Lassen's Peak and Cape Mendocino, 
its eastern beyond Owen Lake, its southern beyond Visalia and 
Point Sur, its western be3'ond Point Reyes. All that part of 
this region in California has been carefully surveyed by the 
State Geological Survey, except a little strip in the Coast 
mountains north of Clear Lake. The scale of the map is six 
miles to an inch, and the style of execution is superior to that 
of any other map ever made in the New World, of a State, or 
any large area. This map is published. 

2. The triangle south of Central California, on the same 
scale, with equal thoroughness. Its northern and eastern sides 
are about two hundred miles long, and its soutliern and west- 
ern boundaries are the ocean. This map is to be published 
soon. 



TOPOGRAPHY. 18 

3. The Bay ma]), covering an area of sixty-six by ninety 
miles, extending from Napa to Gilvoy, and from Livermore 
Pass to Olema, on a scale of two miles to an inch, has been 
published. It shows the latest municipal lines, the town plats, 
the surroundings, and the completed railroads, in addition to 
the topography and tlie depth of the waters. 

4. The Yosemite region, covering an area of forty by iifty- 
eight miles, on a scale of two miles to an inch. Published. 

0. The Yosemite grant, on a scale of two inches to a mile. 
Published. 

fi. California and Nevada, on a scale of eigliteen miles to 
an inch. Published. 

7. A geological map of the gravel range across Nevada 
and Placer Counties, to be done probably in three months ; 
and a geological map of the peninsula of San Francisco. Not 
yet published. 



14 RESOURCES OF CALIFORXrA. 



CHAPTER II. 

SOCIETY. 

§ 18. Population. — In population, California is the twenty- 
fourth State of the Union, but in the absolute number of 
Chinamen it is the first, in Mexicans and Russians second, in 
Spaniards the third, in Poles and Danes the fifth, in French the 
sixth, and in English, Scotch, and Irish the ninth. About 
one-seventh of the people of the United States, and four- 
elevenths of the Californians, were born abroad. 

According to the Federal census, the population of Califor- 
nia was, in 1870, 560,247 ; and since that j'ear no census has 
been taken of the entire pojjulation in any part of the State, 
nor of any class save that of the children counted for school 
purposes. In 1872, the children under sixteen years of age 
numbered 207,084, indicating an increase of 22,394 in two 
years, or more than 11,000 annually. Of these 207,084, 69,723 
were under five years of age, and 137,361 between five and 
fifteen inclusive. We may assume safely that in each of those 
two years 8,000 cliildreu passed beyond the school age, so that 
the entire natural increase was 38,394. We know also, by the 
statistics kejDt by the Custom House of San Francisco and the 
Central Pacific Railroad Company, that in the three years and 
a lialf between the 1st of July, 1870, and the 1st of January, 
1874, the excess of arrivals over departures by sea and rail 
was 65,000 persons. After allowing for deaths, the population 
of the State at the end of 1873 was about 641,000, if the 



SOCIETY. 15 

census of 1870 was correct. It is certain, however, that mucli 
of the census work was done inefficiently, and there is good 
reason to believe that the true population of California in 1870 
was not less than 590,000, and on that basis the present popu- 
lation would be about 680,000. 

§ 19. Nationalities. — The census of 1870 contains many 
details which may be regarded as approximately correct ; and 
we must accept it because nothing of the same kind is to be 
found in any other authority. Our attention is first attracted 
to the matter of nativities, and here we find that 350,416 of 
the Californians in 1870, v/ere natives of the present terri- 
tory of the United States; and 209,831 were foreign-born. 
Among the foreigners, we find the following numbers, viz : 
54,421 Irish, 48,826 Chinese, 30,777 Germans and Austrians, 
22,044 English, 12,195 British Colonists, 9,380 Spaniards and 
Spanish-Americans, 8,063 French, 4,660 Italians, 2,944 Scan- 
dinavians, 2,495 Portuguese, and 1,344 Russians and Poles. 

Among the Austrians are several thousand Dalmatians from 
the shores of the Adriatic ; and they ai-e the majority of our 
citizens of Slavonic blood. Counting the Germans, British, 
British-Americans, and Scandinavians together, we have 
68,560 foreigners of Teutonic blood, 54,421 Celts (assuming 
that the Irish are all of Celtic blood), and 25,048 Latins, 
including under that head all the Spaniards, Spanish-Ameri- 
cans, French, Italians, and Portuguese. 

Of the 350,416 natives in California, 169,904 were born in 
the State, leaving 180,512 natives of other parts of the Union ; 
and of these, 47,792 were born in the Southern or ex-slave 
States, and 132,720 in the Territories and Northern States. 
New Yrok contributed 33,766, Missouri 16,050, Massachusetts 
15,334, Ohio 12,735, Maine 11,261, Pennsylvania 11,208, and 
Illinois 10,689. 

§ 20. Occupations and Sexes. — The number of people 
reported as being engaged in occupations in 1870, was 238,648, 
including 224,868 men, and 13,780 women. Of the total, 



16 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

47,863 were engaged in agriculture, 76,112 in personal and 
protessioual duties, 33,165 in trade and transportation, and 
81,508 in mechanical and mining industries. 

TJie entire number of males and females is not reported in 
any volume of the census yet published, but we have the 
ligures f )r those persons aged ten years or moi-e, and among 
those we find 283,740 males, and 146,704 females. We 
know, however, that there were 184,000 children under six- 
teen, in the State in 1870 ; and as among them the two sexes 
were equally divided, it follows that there were, in 1870, 
263,000 males, and 126,000 females over sixteen in the State, 
or two to one. After deducting 48,000 Chinamen, we find 
that there are eight males to five females among the whole 
population over sixteen, and that 90,000 white men can find 
no mates in the^tate. 

Tlie native males number 199,421, including 64,203 between 
five and eighteen years of age, 77,828 between eighteen and 
foi-ty-five, and 93,327 adults. The foi-eign males number 
150,058, including 6,883 between five and eighteen, 117,107 
between eighteen and forty-five, and 133,929 adults. 

There are 150,995 native females, and 59,973 foreign 
females. 

§ 21. Other Classes. — There are 128,752 families in Cali- 
fornia, averaging 4.35 persons each, and 126,307 dwellings, 
averaging 4.44 persons each. The adult male citizens num- 
ber 145,802, and 94,738 votes were cast at the presidential 
election in 1872, showing that in that year 51,064 voters, 
or more than 35 per cent., stayed away from the polls. The 
proportion of voters who did not go to the polls was unusually 
large in that year, the supposition being that at i)residential 
elections ordinarily about nine-tenths of the voters cast their 
ballots. 

The paupers number 991, including 637 foreign and 354 
native. 

The convicts in prison were 1,574, 906 of them foreign 
and 668 native. The number convicted in the year was 1,107. 



SOCIETY. 17 

§ 22, Decline of Mining Comities. — The population 
reported in 1860 was 379,944, showing a gain, in ten years, 
of 176,669, or 46 per cent. 

The general gain of the State is very unevenly distributed, 
and there are some serious losses, especially in the mining 
counties, of which the following may be taken as samples : 

Counties. i860. 1870. 

Calaveras 16,209 8,896 

El Dorado 20,562 10,326 

Mariposa 6,243 4, 572 

Sierra 11,387 5,337 

Trinity 5,125 3,173 

Mokelumne 16,226 8,171 

Total 82,842 40,475 

Here is a loss of 42,366 inhabitants in six counties, or more 
than half the total population which those counties had ten 
years ago. The loss in productive power is still greater, for 
there is a much larger proportion of women and children now 
than in 1860. Placer shows a loss of about 15 per cent, ; 
Siskiyou of 10 ; and Yuba (which formerly had rich placers) 
of 20, Del Norte, Klamath, Plumas, and Shasta, other 
mining counties, show no change worthy of note. Amador 
and Nevada, which have the most profitable quartz mines of 
California, have gained, the former 10, and the latter 16 per 
cent. 

The largest relative gain has been in some of the smaller 
agricultural counties, such as Colusa and Humboldt, which 
have each added 200 per cent, to their population in the 
decennium. Stanislaus, San Luis Obispo, and San Francisco 
gained 180 per cent, ; Sutter, 170 ; Merced and Alameda, 
150 ; Solano, 125 ; San Joaquin and Santa Clara, 120 ; Santa 
Barbara, San Mateo, Monterey, Yolo, and Marin, 100 ; Men- 
docino, Santa Cruz, and Sonoma, 75 ; Contra Costa, 60 ; 
Fresno, 50 ; Los Angeles, 35 ; Napa, 28 ; Sacramento, 12 ; 
Butte, (which is now mainly agricultural) 9 ; and San Diego, 
2 



18 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

8 per cent. There was a loss of 28 per cent, in San Ber- 
nardino ; 20 in Tulare ; and 10 in Tehama. The loss in San 
Bernardino, and the smallness of the increase in San Diego, 
are probably due mainly to the disappearance of Indians, of 
whom 3,000 were reported for each county in 1860. 

The growth in the agricultural districts of the San Joaquin 
Valley has been large. We put the following counties 
together : 

Counties. i860. 1870. 

San Joaquin 9,435 21,064 

Stanislaus 2,245 6,510 

Merced 1,141 2,810 

Fresno 4,605 6,336 

Total 17,426 36,720 

Here is an increase in the district of more than 100 per 
cent. 

There are 53 counties, of which 18 are mainly mining, and 
35 agricultural and commercial. The total population of the 
mining region is 105,314, or an avei'age of 5,861 to the 
county. The agricultural and commercial districts have 
451,299 inhabitants, or an average of 14,031 to the county. 
San Francisco has 27 per cent, of the inhabitants of the 
State, or more than the entire population of the mining region. 
Sacramento, Santa Clara, Alameda, San Joaquin, Sonoma, 
and Nevada, are the next counties in order, and together tliey 
have about one-fourth of the population of the State, and 
with San Francisco they have more than the remaining 46 
counties. 

§ 23. Cosmopolitanism. — Not one in twenty among the 
adult Californians to be met with in the larger towns is a na- 
tive of the State, and nearly all those who occupy prominent 
and influential positions in society and business have come 
from distant homes. Every State in the Union, every countiy in 
Europe, all the British Colonies in North America and Australa- 
asia, all the countries of Spanish America, and many of the 



SOCIETY. 19 

Polynesian Islands, are represented. The long and costly jour- 
ney demanded either money, an adventurous disposition, or 
both. The people as a class are unequaled in their general in- 
telligence and enterprise. The journey in pioneer times was suf- 
ficient in itself to educate a man, and after his arrival here he 
found himself among a mixed population, who had to make 
allowance for strange customs, and in new conditions which 
required new modes of working and new habits of life. The 
migratory habits of the miners, the large profits of business, 
and the small proportion of women, have all exercised a strong 
influence on California society, which, even among the poorest 
and most ignorant class, has a liberal and cosmopohtan tone. 

§ 24. State Pride. — The Californians who have been here 
from fifteen to twenty-five years are j^roud of tlieir State, and 
carry their pride so far that it is observed as something ex- 
ceptional in the United States. The causes of this feeling are : 
satisfaction with themselves for their share in building up the 
State*, and with the rapidity with which it has advanced ; the 
recollection of the wonderful changes that have occun-ed here 
within a quarter of a century, and of the impressive events in 
which they have taken pai-t ; and profound convictions that 
this is in many respects the best place in the world for 
the enjoyment of life, that its attractions are not generally 
understood in the Eastern States and Europe, that it is destined 
to have a prosperous and glorious future, and that it will be a 
chief pleasure i-esort and a center of tlie highest civilization. 
To many of the pioneers, existence would lose its zest and ro- 
mance, and would become a dull drudgery, if they were com- 
pelled to make their homes east of the Rocky Mountains. A 
large proportion of those who have left the State, intending to 
spend the remainder of their lives in their native places, liave 
returned, declaring that they could not accommodate them- 
selves to the slow, quiet, dull ways of more antiquated States. 

W. F. Rae, in his Westward hy Rail, thus exaggerates 
and caricatures the State pride of the pioneers : 



20 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

" The love of Californians for their country has been ab- 
sorbed in a singular and exceptional aifection for their State. 

* * They appear to live under the delusion that the rich 
gold mines, the unrivaled grain, the magnificent fruit, the 
delightful climate, are all creations of their own. Tell them 

* * that nature has been as kind to dwellers in other 
portions of the globe, and they will appear to think an affront 
is intended." 

This ridicule loses its edge when we read elsewhere in his 
book, that this is " the land of perpetual sunshine," and " it is 
not surprising that those who have lived in California should 
be reluctant to leave it, and, after having gone elsewhere, 
should long to return thither." Californian miners have wan- 
dered off in considerable numbers to British Columbia, Mon- 
tana, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona, but the Golden State holds 
a warm place in their affection, and they call it " God's Coun- 
try," a title full of eloquence as well as of endearment. And 
if Californians over-estimate the value of their State, it should 
be remembered that they have a right to speak as experts, for 
no others have seen more of the world, or had better oppor- 
tunities to make a fair comparison. 

§ 25. Hospitality. — It is, perhaps, partly on account of 
their State pride, that the Californians are cordial and hospit- 
able. They want travelers to carry away good impressions of 
the country. Since the completion of the trans-continental 
railroad, many residents of the Eastern States have come to 
visit their Californian relatives, and they have carried back 
glowing accounts of the generous welcome given to them. In 
the numerous books on California, much is said of the hospi- 
tality of the people. One gentleman, connected with the Bank 
of California, has been so magnificent in the entertainment of 
strangers, that an absurd rumor was published that the Bank 
allowed him $150,000 annually for that purpose ; but such a 
story would not have been started about any other State. The 
hospitality of the Californians is in keeping with their general 



SOCIETY. 21 

mode of life. They live for enjoyment, and expect to expend 
most of their money as it comes. They have traveled enough 
to know how to entertain, and how to accept entertainment. 
C. L, Brace, in his New West, says : " The great virtues of Cal- 
ifornian society are its intelligence, its energy, and above all, 
its generosity." 

§ 26. Luxurious Living. — The enjoyment of life is a 
prominent purpose of Californian society, while religion, social 
display, and the accumulation of money are less noticeable than 
in most other countries. The prevalent mode of living is luxu- 
I'ious, and the habits are extravagant. While many line for- 
tunes have been made in the State, in comparison with the 
number of inhabitants, yet a large proportion of those having 
excellent incomes save relatively little, preferring to enjoy 
their gains as they go along. Tlie houses generally ai-e fur- 
nished elegantly ; the tables are supplied with a variety of the 
best kinds of food ; and the clothing is of costly material. 
The traveler observes that the dresses of the ladies on Kearny 
Street are richer in stuff and color, and less pretentious in their 
cut and trimming, than those of Broadway. When people 
come to California they expect to better their condition, and 
they are not content to live as they lived before coming hither. 
They are often extravagant, and seldom miserly. 

§ 27. Social Equality. — In no place is society more free and 
cordial, and ready to give a friendly reception to a stranger, than 
in California. The new-comer is looked upon with favor ; no- 
body cares whether he belongs to a distinguished family, has 
moved in a fashionable circle, or possesses wealthy or iniluential 
friends or relatives. The great question is, " Is he or she well 
educated, polished, and entertaining ? " Of course, Californi- 
ans are not entirely above such considerations as govern soci- 
ety elsewhere, but they are influenced by them far less than 
people in other States. The course of business is such that no 
profession has all the wealth. There are rich men of all oc- 
cupations, and some of the mechanical trades are now as profit- 



22 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

able, on tlie average, to those engaged in them, as are the 
learned professions. Those who were rich in the older States, and 
received a thorough education and a polished training, may here 
be poor, while those who came hither poor and ignorant may 
now be rich. liesides, the changes are so rapid that our neigh- 
bor who is poor to-day may be rich to-morrow, and the neigh- 
bor who is rich to-day may be poor to-morrow. Again, 
California is preeminently a countr}' of business. People 
come here to make money, and everybody tries to make it ; 
and in a State where wages are high., and profits large, a 
man's business depends to a considerable extent on the multi- 
tude of liis friends, so everybody wishes to make a friend of 
everybody else. The millionaire in Euroj^e may treat his ten- 
ant as an inferior ; in California the wealthiest land-owner is 
expected to treat his tenant as an equal. All these things 
have their influence in preventing the separation of our society 
into those classes which prevail elsewhere. 

In no part of the world is the individual more free from 
restraint. High wages, migratory habits, and bachelor life, 
are not favorable to the maintenance of stiff social rules among 
men ; and the tone of society among women must partake, to 
a considerable extent, of that among men, especially in a 
country Avhere the women are in a small minority, and thei'e- 
fore are much courted. Public opinion, which as a guardian 
of public morals is more powerful than the forms of law, loses 
much of its power in a community where many of the inhab- 
itants are not permanent residents. A large portion of the 
men in California live alone, either in cabins or in hotels, 
remote from Avomen relatives, and therefore uninfluenced by 
the powers of a " home." Many girls commence going into 
"society" about fifteen, then receive company alone, and go 
out alone with young men to dances and other places of 
amusement. 

Charles Nordhoff pays Californians the following compli, 
ment : 



SOCIETY. 23 

" I do not know whether to ascribe it to their varied em- 
ployments, or to the fact that the State was settled originally 
by a picked population, tlie most energetic and resourceful only 
coming here, and of these again only the ablest achieving suc- 
cess and remaining here ; but it is a fact, that I was struck with 
the high character of the population, in all parts of the State 
I have seen, for intelligence, enterprise, and activity. ' Chicago 
and San Francisco are the only two cities you can find in the 
whole country which will remind you of New York,' said a 
friend to me, whom I met in Chicago. I think he is right. 
Philadelphia, Boston, Cincinnati, and other large cities, differ 
in many Avays from New York. All of them seem ' slow ' to 
one accustomed to the rush and whirl of New York business 
life. But such a person finds himself at home in either Chi- 
cago or San Francisco. In both he finds the same activity in 
the streets ; California Street, in San Francisco, during business 
hours, is so much like our own Broad and Wall Streets, that 
when I first saw it I had no need to ask what was done there. 
The business men of San Francisco move, talk, dress, dine, and 
carry on aft*airs like New Yorkers ; some of them drink a little 
more whisky — that is the only apparent difierence between 
them. They are as accessible to strangers, as readily hospitable, 
and as little formal as New Yorkers ; and what is true of San 
Francisco is equally true of the whole State. A banker, law- 
yer, or merchant, anywhere we have traveled in California, 
might be, for aught you could tell from his appearance or lan- 
guage, dress or address, just from New York. You would 
not take him for a Bostonian or a Philadelphian ; and I did 
not notice on any person that peculiar air or dress which, 
with us in the East, proclaims a lawyer or business man from 
the interior. I think it was Donald G. Mitchell who com- 
plained that no man could live two years out of New York, 
no matter how well informed he might be, or how excellent 
bis tailor, without betraying himself to a New Yorker as a 
countryman. Well, here in California I met dozens of busi- 



24 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

ness and professional men whom I should have taken anywhere 
for New Yorkers — men as fresh in their thouglits, as ready, as 
though tliey had only the day before left Broadway or Wall 
Street. 

" It is the same with their houses. They receive you, tliey 
dine or lunch you, they entertain, as though they were New 
Yorkers. Of course, the climate leads them to a ditferent 
style of building ; but when you are once indoors you are as 
much at home, and find the ways of the house, the mode of 
life, and the tone of conversation, as familiar to you as though 
you were at home. I met no ' rusty' people in all California." 

An American correspondent of a London paper said : 

"All Englishmen with whom I have talked agree that 
there is a marked difference between Californians and other 
Americans, and in favor of the former. It comes out, I think, 
most clearly in the manners of the lower classes, who have a 
certain frank coiirtesy that I have not met elsewhere in the 
States. One explanation is that California has been settled by 
picked men from all countries in the world. * * * The pleas- 
anter side of such deference to a stranger's feelings is a self- 
respect which makes the lower classes in California among the' 
most agreeable companions I have known anywhere in a corres- 
ponding class." 

§ 28. Physical Characteristics. — Of tlie Americans in Cal- 
ifornia, it may be remarked that they generally have the same 
marks as the Americans in the Eastern States. Their eyes are 
deep set, their foreheads high, their features regular and finely 
cut, their faces expressive and free from grimace, their com- 
plexions sallow, their lips thin, their mouths grim, their bodies 
tall, slim, and slightly bent in the shoulders, their chests thin, 
their voices harsli, and their enunciation slow and clear, with 
little modulation. These general characteristics, as compared 
with Europeans, are common among the natives of the Atlantic 
States who came to California after reaching adult age ; but 
there is an evident change in those who came young to the 



SOCIETY. 25 

State, or were born here. The typical Californian of the next 
generation will be plump, ruddy in complexion, full in the 
chest, and melodious in voice. In other words, he will resem- 
ble the Briton more than the Massachusetts man. Even 
among those natives of the Eastern States who have come to 
California as men and women, tliere is much change. Many 
of them have lost their sallow complexions and thin figures, 
and when they return to their brothers and sisters in the East 
the contrast attracts attention immediately. Age does not 
show so rapidly in California. Onr women as a class are con- 
siderably heavier than in New York, and the sizes of corsets 
and shoes sold there are too small for the main demand of the 
San Francisco market. Many English tourists, writers of 
books, have observed the physical peculiarities of Californians 
as compared with other Americans ; and among them is W. F. 
Rae, who wrote thus : 

" From points about which travelers differ it is a pleasure 
to turn to one about which there has been and must be perfect 
unanimity. The beauty of the women is Avithout the pale of 
controversy. It cannot be likened to the beauty fur which 
Engli>li girls are universally and deservedly admired ; for 
which Italian maidens have been immortalized on canvas or in 
verse ; for which the sprightly damsels of France, and the 
coquettish ladies of Spain, have won applause, and by means 
of which they have won conquests. If I were to select a par- 
ticular locality in the United States, I might truthfully com- 
pare the type of beauty predominant there to that of a partic- 
ular country in the Old World. But America is a world in 
itself Within the bounds of the Republic of the West are all 
climates which give diversity to Europe, from Rome to Copen- 
hagen and from London to Madrid. Where climates vary, 
female faces vary also. In New England, may be seen those 
delicately chiseled features and transparent complexions which 
in Europe are characteristic of the fascinating beauties of the 
North. In the Southern States, the imperious and indolent 



26 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

Spanish women, with their amorous eyes and raven hair, have 
been reproduced at a distance of many thousand miles from 
Andahisia and Castile. Let the traveler cross the continent 
till the Pacific slope is reached, and there the soft and delicate 
beauty of Italy, combined with an intelligence wholly Ameri- 
can, and a physique wholly English, delights and surprises 
you. Nor are good looks the sole dower of the American 
girls. They are more French than English in the acuteness 
with which they argue. They are imssionately fond of the 
frivolities of existence, yet they follow with interest the course 
of the graver topics of the day. * ******* 

" The children are healthy and robust. Their rosy cheeks are 
a great contrast to the transparent skins and pale complexions 
of New England children. If the child be a criterion of the 
man, the native-born Californians will hereafter be fine speci- 
mens of humanity. * * The physical conditions under 
which human beings exist in this favored region, are well 
adapted for imparting to them the qualities which lead to 
greatness in all departments of exertion." 

In his book entitled Across the Continent, Samuel Bowles 
says : 

" The indications are tliat the human stock will be improved 
both in physical and nervous qualities. The cliildreu are stout 
and lusty. The climate invites, and permits with impunity, 
such a large open-air life that it could hardly be othersvise." 

Another traveler, C. L. Brace, thus records his impressions : 

" The population will be the most industrious working ])op- 
ulation of the world. * * Such is the wonderful quality of 
nature here, and the selected energy of the Americans, that 
the five hundred thousand [Californians] are equal to millions 
elsewhere. * * It is the land of handsome men. * * The 
young girls of the city [San Francisco] show a great deal of 
beauty, and such rich bloom of complexion as we seldom see 
on the Atlantic border. The Coast will no doubt be merely 
the American type improved. * * I am constantly meeting 



SOCIETY. 27 

young, ruddy, round-faced business men, wliom I mistake for 
Englislimen, but tliey are Yaukee-born." 

Robert von Schlagiutweit, a distinguished German traveler, 
says : 

" The visitor from tlie Eastern States of America immedi- 
ately observes tlie fresli appearance of the Califurnians ; and is 
astonislied at the healthy complexions and light red cheeks, 
which are rare in his former home." 

These quotations are inserted here not only to confirm my 
own statements, and give additional authority to them, but also 
to show how strongly ti'avelei'S are impressed with the evi- 
dences that a race of peculiar physical character, or at least 
different from^and superior to those of the Atlantic States, Avill 
grow up here. I have not found anywhere an adverse opinion. 

§ 29. Puhlicity of Life. — Life in California is very public. 
Many of the people live in hotels and at large boarding- 
houses. Travelers are numerous ; theaters and balls are 
abundant and well attended ; celebrations and festivals are 
frequent ; the population is excitable ; all take tlie newspapers, 
and all are interested in the events of the day ; and the his- 
tory of the country is full of eventful incidents, which 
always present fruitful topics for discussion. Money is 
abundant, and is easily earned, and of course it is spent 
freely ; and the favorite method of spending is in jjublic fes- 
tivities and attending places of amusement. The regularity 
of the summer climate enables people to make journeys, 
excursions, picnics, and parties, without fear of rain or prepar- 
ation for it. In the winter the people are not shut in by the 
cold ; and at San Francisco the coolness of the climate is a 
constant stimulus to exercise, and an invitation to go into the 
street. Dancing parties are common throughout the year. 
Numerous national, secret, and benevolent associations, Sun- 
day-schools, and military companies, must have tlieir annual 
picnics, while others have their periodical festivities in the 
form of balls. But perhaps the amusement which has found 



28 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

the most favor in California is billiard-playing. Billiard- 
tables are found everywhere. In many little villages where 
there is but one inn a fine billiard-table will be found. In 
San Francisco there are numerous large billiard-saloons, con- 
taining each from eight to twelve of the largest and most 
elegant billiard-tables, at which men are constantly playing. 

§ 30. Education. — California has an excellent system of 
State schools, open without charge to all children between 
five and fifteen years of age ; and the system of instruction 
and the general management of the departments are reported 
to be little, if in any manner, inferior to those in Massachu- 
setts. The teachers are mostly natives of the Eastern States, 
and are highly capable. The intelligence of the people who 
settled the State will be transmitted to their offspring, and 
there is no probability that the Californians of 1900 will be 
less intellectual than those of 1870. 

Out of 135,361 children of school age, 72,972 go to school, 
and frhe average daily attendance is 65,700. There are 1,612 
schools, and 2,301 teachers, of whom 1,420 are ladies. The 
total expense to the public ti'easury is $2,131,783 annually. 
There are 88 school libraries, with 200,000 volumes. 

The public libraries of the State^ in addition to those 
belonging to the schools, number thirty, with 300,000 volumes, 
including the Mercantile of 30,000, Meclianics' of 20,000, and 
the Odd Fellows' of 18,000, in San Francisco. 

A State University has been liberally endowed by the State 
and has been organized, but as yet it deserves to be called a 
college. It has a small library, no laboratory, and few pro- 
fessors and students ; but it has a magnificent site, and means 
which, if properly managed, would enable it to become a 
great institution. Much of its money has been squandered, 
however, and the result for the future is doubtful. Secta- 
rian colleges are scattered along the coast from Santa Kosa 
to Santa Barbara, most of them small atiairs. Tliose of 
the Jesuits have the best buildings and apparatus and the 



SOCIETY. 29 

largest number of students and professors. Many of the non- 
Catholic parents send their sons and daughters to Catholic 
schools. 

§ 31. Literature. — California has made a Beginning in the 
establishment of a local literature, but her writers were nearly 
all born elsewhere, though they first resorted to authorship 
here, and were impelled to it by our intellectual atmosphere. 
The only native of the State who has ventured into priut is a 
lady of Spanish blood, and she did not make a success. The 
Californian books include law, history, geography, religion, 
biography, science, romance, poetry, and humor. H. W. Hal- 
leck's International Law, Gregory Yale's Water Mights^ Frank- 
lin Tuthill's History of California, John W. Dwinelle's Colo- 
nial History of San Francisco, Frank Soule's Annals of San 
Francisco, T. F. Cronise's Natural Wealth of California, T. 
H. Hittell's Adventures of James Adams, A. S. Evans' Our 
Sister Hepuhlic, John F. Swift's Trip to Jericho, John F. 
Derby's Phmiixiana, Mark Twain's Innocents Abroad, and 
Bret Harte's Condensed Novels, deserve special mention. 
Derby, Mark Twain, and Bret Harte are accounted deservedly 
as among the leading humorists of the age, and Swift, in his 
Jericho, has shown much humorous power. Ina Coolbrith, C. 
W. Stoddard, Emily Lawson, Edward Pollock, Joaquin Mil- 
ler, and many others, have made valuable contributions to the 
poetry of the Pacific. 

§ 32. Art. — Our artists, like our authors, have all come 
from abroad, and yet they feel as if they belonged here as 
much as if born here. Some of them came hither without 
skill or reputation and rose to eminence among us ; others, who 
had gained reputation in the East, came and made their home 
by preference in California, on account of the attractions of 
its climate and scenery. Landscape has been the branch of 
most of our artists, and has been carried to a high degree of 
excellence. Thomas Hill is a master in general effect, relief, ef- 
fective arrangement of light and shade, and fine harmonies of 



30 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

contrast and color ; and in tliese prominent points I have not 
yet seen any pictures superior to his. Wm. Keitli has similar 
merits, but both jjaint in the same broad style, and omit much 
desirable linish of detail. In this respect, Bierstadt, who does 
not claim to be a Californian, but has spent much time here, 
is superior to either. Virgil Williams is another landscape 
painter of much skill. The only historical painter is Charles 
Nahl, wliose works possess remarkable excellence in vigor and 
suggestiveness of design. In accuracy of drawing, strength of 
light and sliade, careful finish, and brilliancy of color, he ranks 
high. His picture of " Sunday in the Mines in 1849," of ex- 
hibition size, representing a mining camp, with horse-racing, 
with men bible-reading, writing home, W"ashing, quietly rest- 
ing, gambling, and figlitin^ is enough to make a reputation. 
He is fond of bright sunshine, and he makes it glare with all 
the brilliancy of midday under a California sky. Wm. Hahn, 
an excellent figure painter, has not yet determined to make 
his permanent home here. S. M. Brookes, as a painter of still 
life, is xnisurpassed on our continent. 

The Art Association of San Francisco has taken a firm foot- 
hold and given some very creditable exhibitions, and it prom- 
ises to become the nucleus of a permanent art-school. 

§ 33. Religion. — In 1870, California had 643 religious con- 
gregations, 532 houses of worship, and seats in them for 195,- 
000 persons, or space for about one-third of the population. 
The property of these congregations was valued at $7,404,000, 
or about $13,000 for each church, on an avei-age. The Catho- 
lics have 144 churches, 66,000 seats, and pi*operty valued at 
$4,600,000, or more than one-fourth of the churches, one-third 
of the seats, and one-half of all the church property in the 
State. The Methodists have 155 churches, the Baptists 115, 
the Presbyterians and Congregationalists95, the Episcopalians 
38, and others smaller numbers. The Jews have seven, the 
Mormons three, and the Spiritualists two. The people gener- 
ally are not strict in their adherence to ecclesiastical regula- 



SOCIETY. 31 

tions. Most of tliem rarely go to church, and many of those 
who go are not communicants. Church membership is not 
generally supposed to be inconsistent with the round dances, 
theater-going, or card-playing. The Americans generally are 
nearly all Protestants by education, but they wear their faith 
loosely, and lean to indiflerentism, if not skepticism. The great 
majority of tlie Germans are more skeptical than the Ameri- 
cans. The Italians and French adhere nominally to the 
Catholic Church, but show no zeal. The foreign-born Irish 
have brought their zeal with them, and preserved it pretty 
well ; but the new generation ai-e affected to a considerable 
extent witli the spirit of indifferentism, and the church, not- 
withstanding it gains some converts from the Protestant sects, 
which win none in return, is losing influence relatively, not- 
withstanding its numerous schools, in which the dogmas of the 
church are instilled into the minds of the people with great 
care. Secret associations, mainly benevolent and social in 
their purposes, occupy a prominent jjlace in California ; and in 
many of the mining towns the Odd Fellows' and Masonic 
lodges are more costly and commodious than the churches, 
and the feeling of attachment to these Brotherhoods is akin 
to religion. 

The Odd Fellows, the strongest secret order in the State, 
have 200 lodges and 14,000 members; gain 1,000 members 
every year ; collect $300,000 of revenue, and spend two-thirds 
of the sum for the relief of needy members. 

The Free and Accepted Masons have 187 lodges and 10,000 
members, and gain about 800 annually. 

The Improved Order of Red Men has 40 lodges and 2,600 
members. 

The Independent Order of Red Men, the Knights of Pythias, 
the Order of Druids, the Order of Heptasophs, are other asso- 
ciations, mainly benevolent. 

The Fenian Brotherhood, the Ancient Order of Hibernians, 
the United Order of American Mechanics, the United Order 



32 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

of White Men, the American Protestant Association, the Order 
of the Crescent, and the Grand Army of the Republic, have 
political and benevolent purposes. 

The B'nai B'rith, and the Ancient Jewish Order of K. S. B., 
are societies of mutual benevolence, open to Jews. 

The Patrons of Husbandry, recently organized, has about 
7,000 members. Its avowed purpose is to advance the inter- 
ests of the agricultural community. 

§ 34. Deeds of Blood. — Twenty years ago, California had 
a sad notoriety for deeds of blood, and for lynch executions; 
but as society has become more settled, murders and illegal 
punishments have become rarer, and are perhaps not more 
common now than in some States east of the Rocky Mountains. 
The abundance of treasure, the necessity of transporting it for 
long distances over mountainous roads, and the sparseness of 
the population, offer opportunities for robbery seldom found 
elsewhere, and they are not entirely neglected. The stage rob- 
bers ai'C usually gentlemen in their way ; and they generally 
content themselves with taking the box of treasure sent by 
the express company, neither robbing nor insulting the passen- 
gers when they find that the express box is empty, and 
that they have risked their lives for nothing. Even when 
homicides were most frequent, the great majority of the peo- 
ple were secure in their lives and property ; but the percent- 
age of deaths was large among the gamblers, drunkards, hold- 
ers of disputed land claims, thieves, and borderers. Public 
gambling was tolerated by law until 1854, and by custom in 
the miuing towns ten years later. Dueling Avas common. 
The Indians were a degraded and drunken race, and caused 
much bloodshed. The great injustice done by the govern- 
ment, in pi'eventing the people from getting secure titles to 
either the agricultural or mining lands, led to numerous quar- 
rels, and many fatal affrays. The scarcity of women was 
another source of trouble. In all these respects there has been 
great improvement, and our larger towns are little inferior to 



SOCIETY. 33 

those of Illinois in the security of life and the maintenance of 
public order. 

Yet in the most disorderly times, the great majority of the 
people were peaceful, quiet, and firmly hostile to all forms of 
crime. The pioneers, as a class, would have been a credit 
morally to any country ; and the ideas to the contrary have 
been circulated mainly by writers who were not here previous 
to 1853. 

California has been a favorite subject of exaggeration. A 
I'omancer who wants to make a sensation, tells a big story 
about our State, with no purpose that it shall be taken as true ; 
but somebody else imagines it to be the fact, draws it up in a 
new form, and it then passes as established truth. It must be 
in this manner that Herbert Sj^encer, one of the most learned 
and able men of the day, has lately been misled. The Popu- 
lar Science Monthly for June, 1873, contains a paper from his 
pen, and in its course he says : 

" I do not refer only to such extreme illustrations of it as 
were at one time furnished in California, where, along with 
that complete political freedom which some suppose to be the 
sole requisite for social welfare, most men lived in perpetual 
fear for their lives, while others prided themselves on the 
notches which marked, on the hilts of their pistols, the num- 
ber of 7Tien they had killed." 

Unfortunately for Mr. Spencer, his illustrations are false. I 
have lived twenty-five years in California, jmrt of the time in 
the mines, have all the time been familiar with tlie general 
condition of society throughout the State, and can safely say 
that never was one man in a hundred " in perpetual fear of 
his life," nor in any fear once a year. Men who have attended 
to their own business, kept sober, avoided gambling houses 
and disputed land titles, and acted honestly, have always been 
comparatively safe. I do not remember that any Californian 
murderer ever prided himself on the notches on his pistol 
marking the number of his victims, nor could boasts of mur- 
3 



34 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

der have been made with mipunity in any part of the State. 

Bret Harte's rejii-esentations of the manners of the miners 
of California are very entertaining, and they do not claim to 
be anything save romance. He and Clarence King have both 
undertaken to write about pioneer life in the mines of Cali- 
fornia, without personal knowledge or careful investigation, 
which was not required of the novelist, but would not have 
been out of place in a work recording observations taken dur- 
ing an official geological survey. 

Previous to 1856, street lights were among the institutions 
of San Francisco. It would frequently be announced by con- 
versation, or even by the newspapers in the morning, that a 
street fight might be expected that day, between two men 
whose names were mentioned ; and the curious would collect 
on the main business street, to see the fun. The belligerents 
would walk along the street, and on coming near each other 
would draw their revolvers, and, with or without speaking, 
commence firing. The fight would be one of self-defense on 
both sides. In the use of deadly weapons, California resem- 
bles the Gulf States far more than the North. The wild con- 
dition of affairs in the early times was impressed upon our 
society, and we have not yet been able to reform it altogether ; 
and in the matter of carrying deadly weapons, and in street 
fights, we have imitated the example of the Cotton States. 
So, too, in the matter of duels, of which there have been 
many in California, and some of them of a character so re- 
markable as to attract attention all over the civilized world. 
Dueling is punishable as a felony by severe penalties ; but a 
hundred duels have been fought in the State, and about one- 
third of them have proved fatal to one of the principals, and 
yet no man has been legally punished for dueling, nor has 
any one been prevented from voting or holding office for that 
reason ; on the contrary, many of the duelists have held offices 
among the most honorable and profitable in the State. Pub- 
lic opinion, which is more potent than the law, has con- 
demned duels, and w^e have not had one for years. 



SOCIETY. 35 

§ 35. Dialect. — Bret Harte has attributed to the miners of 
California a peculiar, stronglj^-marked, and affected dialect, 
but he has drawn on his ima£;ination for the greater part of it. 
A mixed population, like that in the mines, representing evei-y 
State in tlie Union, and every county of Great Britain, could not 
have a dialect ; and nowhere is the English language better un- 
derstood, or spoken with more foi'ce, elegance, and purity, by 
the poorer classes of people, than in this State. Harte did not 
come to California until 1857, never lived in the mines, and 
bad no habits of research, nor was it necessary that he should 
have for success in his department of literature. Slang, as dis- 
tinct from dialect, is common in California. Mark Twain had 
excellent opportunities to become familiar with it, and lie has 
made a singular and amusing collection of it in an account of 
*' Buck Fanshaw's Funeral." 

§ 36. Calif ornianisms. — The Californians have introduced 
certain words into the English language, or at least have 
adopted them in common use in the State, and a list of them, 
with tlieir pronunciation and definition, may not be out of 
place here : 

Aparejo, (a par ay' ho) a Mexican pack-saddle, 

Adobe, (a do' ba) a large, sun-dried, unburned brick, some- 
times two feet long, a foot wide, and four inches thick. 

Arroyo, (ar ro' yo) a brook, or the dry bed of a brook or 
small river. 

Arastra, (a ras' tra) a primitive mill for crushing quartz. 

Alforja, ( al for' hah) a bag, usually made of raw cowhide, 
used for holding the articles to be carried by a pack-horse. 

£ar. — A low bank of sand or gravel, at the side of a river, 
deposited by the stream. 

Bximmer. — An idle, worthless fellow, who does no woi-k 
and has no visible means of support. The word " loafer," like 
" lounger," does not designate the general conduct or perma- 
nent character of a man, but only a temporary idleness. A 
respectable, industrious man may become a " loafer " by mak- 



36 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

ing idle, impertinent visits in business places during business 
hours ; but tlie word " bummer " implies a low, laz}^ character. 
It is probably derived from the vulgar German words Bum- 
meln and Bummeler, which are about equivalent to " loafer " 
and " loaf" Its origin has been attributed to Boehmen, the 
German name of Bohemia, a nationality celebrated for the 
number of its sharpers and adventurers. The Gipsies are 
called Bohemiens in France, because of their roving lives and 
worthless character. " Bummer " is generally supposed here 
to be a Califoruianism. 

Bumming^ acting the bummer, used in such phrases as " he 
is bumming around." 

Caballada, (ca bal yah' da) a herd of broken horses. 

Canada, (can yah' da) a small canon, a deep ravine, a nai*- 
row valley with steep sides. 

Canon, (can' yon) originally a tube, and hence applied to 
mean a deep gorge with high, steep walls. Comparatively few 
canons and canadas are to be found in that portion of the 
United States east of the Mississippi, but they are abundant in 
California. The Spaniards place the accent on the last syllable 
of canon, (can yone') but in ordinary American usage the ac- 
cent is on the first syllable. It is frequently spelt " canyon," 
and " kanyon." 

Corral, (cor ral') a pen into which a herd of cattle or horses 
is driven, when one is to be caught. 

To corral, to drive into a corral ; to drive a person into a 
position from which he cannot escaj^e. 

To coyote, a mining term, to dig a hole resembling the bur- 
row of the coyote, or small Californian wolf 

Claim, the tract of land claimed for mining purposes by a 
man or party. There are various kinds of claims, such as 
bank, bar, hill, tunnel, flat, etc. 

Color, a visible quantity of gold found in prospecting. If 
the pi'ospector finds one or more particles of gold in his search, 
he savs he has found the color. 



SOCIETY. 37 

To dry up, a slang plu-ase, meaning to stop, fail, disappear, 
become silent. It is very cxju-essive to Californians, accus- 
tomed to see the whole face of the country dry up in the sum- 
mer season. 

Diggings, a general name for placer gold mines. Wet dig- 
gings are in the banks and bars of creeks or rivers ; dry 
diggings are in Hats or the beds of gullies, which are dry the 
greater portion of the year. 

Es'pediente, the original papers relating to some government 
business, filed in a public office. 

Emharcadero, (em bar ca day' ro) a landing place. 

To freeze out, a miner's phrase, used to express the policy 
whereby stockholders, or partners in mines, are driven to sell 
out. For instance : if some rich men, owning part of a mine, 
discover that it is very valuable, they may conceal that fact, 
and at the same time levy heavy assessments for works which 
can bring no speedy return ; and thus the poorer shareholders 
will be burdened and discouraged, and induced to sell out at 
a low price. 

Ftiste, (foos' te) a strong saddle-tree, made of wood, and 
covered with raw cowhide, used for lassoing. 

Gulch, a gully. 

Hahilitation, from the Spanish habilitacion, a certificate, or 
stamp on paper, which authorized it to be used for certain 
purposes. To habilitate paper, is to place the mark of hahili- 
tation upon it. 

2^0 hydraulic, a mining term, to wash dirt by throwing a 
stream of water upon it through a hose and pipe. 

Jaquima, (hack' ee ma) a head-stall used in breaking wild 
horses. 

To knock doion, a miner's phrase, meaning to steal rich 
pieces of auriferous quartz from the lode. 

Manada, (ma nah' da) a herd of breeding mares under the 
lead of a stallion. 

Mecai^e, (may cah' te) a rope of hair, used for tying horses. 



38 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

Mochilas, (mo cbee' las) large leathern flaps for covering a 
fuste. 

Plaza, a public square in a town. 

Play a ^ a beach. 

Pozo, a spring or well. 

Pueblo, a town. 

To pipe, to wash dirt by the hydraulic process. 

Pay-Dirt, auriferous dirt rich enough to pay the miner. 

Placer, from the Spanish, a place where gold is found in 
earthy matter. 

To prospect, to hunt for gold diggings ; to examine ground 
or rock for the purpose of finding whether it contains gold, 
and how much. 

Prospect, the discovery made by prospecting. 

Pocleo, (ro day' o) a collection of wild or half- wild cattle, 
made for the purpose of separating or marking them. 

Pecojida, (ray cohee' da) a similar collection of horses. 

Pancho, (ran' tsho) before the Americans took California, 
meant a tract of land used almost entirely for pasturage, 
rarely less than four square miles in extent, sometimes as 
much as ninety -nine square miles, and in most cases not less 
than thirty square miles. Since the conquest, rancho, and its 
American derivation " ranch," are often applied to small farms, 
and sometimes, in the way of slang, to single houses, tents, and 
liquor shops. " Ranch" is sometimes used as a verb : thus a 
man who opens a farm, according to common parlance, " has 
gone to ranching." We speak of a " milk ranch," " butter 
ranch," " cheese ranch," " chicken ranch," etc. 

Panchero, (ran-tsha'-ro) a man who owns and lives upon a 
rancho. It is usually understood to mean a Spanish Califor- 
nian. 

Pancheria, (ran tsha ree' a) an Indian hut or a village. 

Peata, (ray ah' ta) a rawliide rope, used for lassoing. 

Pubric, a flourish, \vhich ]Mexicans and native Californians 
append to their signatures, and which, in fact, they consider 



SOCIETY. 39 

as an important part of tlieir signatures, and the most difficult 
to imitate or counterfeit. They often use their " rubrics " 
alone as signatures. To rubricate, to sign with a rubric. 

Sluice, a trough used for washing pay-dirt. 

Grouncl-Sluice, a trough cut in the ground for washing pay- 
dirt. 

Tail-Sluice, a sluice put in below a number of other sluices, 
and depending on them for its supply of dirt and water. 

Sluice-Fork, a fork similar to a manure fork, but with 
blunt prongs, as wide at the point as at the heel. The fork is 
used for throwing stones out of the sluices. 

Sluice-Head, the quantity of water used in a sluice ; a con- 
stant stream of water running through an aperture, usually 
two inches high, and from five to fifteen inches long, under a 
pressure of seven inches. 

Slum, slimy mud. 

To strip, to throw off worthless dirt from the top of pay 
dirt. 

Sierra, (see er' ra) originally a saw, a chain of mountains. 

Square Meal, a good meal at a table, as distinguished from 
such meals as men make when they are short of provisions, a 
condition not uncommon among men who make adventurous 
trips into the mountains. 

Tailings, the waste of a sluice, torn, rocker, or quartz-mill. 

Tom, a wooden trough, from ten to fifteen feet long, for 
washing pay-dirt. 

Tom-Stream, or Tom-Head, the amoiint of water used in a 
tom. 

Rocker, or Cradle, a machine resembling a domestic cradle, 
for washing pay-dirt. 

Wing-Dam, a dam in a creek or river, running partly 
across. 

§ 37. Spanish Californians. — The people of Spanish blood 
in the State are mostly natives of California, Mexico, and Chile. 
As a class, they are poor and ignorant. The Mexicans and 



40 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

Spaniards who came to California while Spain held dominion 
of the country, brought few women with tliem, ])ut took In- 
dian Avomen for wiv'es ; and the descendants of these women 
form a majorit}^ of the Spanish Calif jrnians. Among the 
wealtliier families, the Indian cast of countenance has almost 
disappeared. Although the features are sometimes thick, the 
expression of the face is mild and pleasant. The complexion 
is dark, and grows darker with age ; the hair is black and 
straight, the eyes black, the cheeks ruddy. Many of the men 
are handsome, tall, broad-shouldered, large-boned, strong, 
healthy, and long-lived. They grow fleshy as they grow old ; 
and the same remark applies to the women. Tliey are a good- 
natured race, very kind and obliging to their friends, but out 
of place among Americans, who are too sliarp for them in 
trading. Instead of increasing in wealth with the develop- 
ment of the country, the S})anish Califoruians have been rap- 
idly growing poorer, and now they own not one-twentieth of the 
landed property which they had in 1848. Then they owned 
nearly everything ; now there is not a leading merchant or 
millionaire among them. They regret the conquest. They 
lived in a very simple manner under the Mexican dominion, 
but they were secure in their property, and were the political 
masters. Now they form a small and powerless minority, 
among a people far superior to them in agricultural and 
mechanical skill and business knowledge — a people who are 
absorbing all their wealth, and who look upon them and treat 
thera as inferiors. Although some of the Spanish Califoruians 
are content with the change of dominion, yet many hate the 
Americans. Indeed, the condition of aftairs in some of the 
counties where the Spanish population is numerous, was near 
civil war at various jieriods between 1851 and 1854. Most 
of the Spanish Califoruians live in the country ; their chief 
wealth is in land and cattle, and the main occupation of the 
poorer classes is herding cattle. 

§ 38. Chinese. — The Chinese population of California was 



SOCIETY. 41 

49,310 in 1870, and of these, 22,760 were in the mining- 
counties, inchiding San Diego, Kcni, Yuba, and San Bernardi- 
no, in whicli mining occupies only a small part of the inhabit- 
ants. San Francisco has 12,030 ; Sacramento, 3,596 ; Nevada, 
2,627 ; Placer, 2,410 ; Yuba, 2,337 ; Butte, 2,082 ; and other 
counties smaller numbers. The census reports so far published, 
do not classify the Chinese according to their occupations ; but 
by my estimate, 18,000 of them are miners, 8,000 are agri- 
culturists, and 22,000 are manufacturers, fishermen, domestic 
servants, merchants, washmen, etc. In the class of miners are 
included the builders and menders of roads. 

Most of our Chinese came from Southern China, and be- 
long to large companies, each of which represents the district 
from which its members came, and has a large building in 
San Francisco, where they lodge and feed all the members of 
their company when they arrive from China, or when they 
come on a visit from the interior. The companies are benevo- 
lent associations, and take care of their indigent and sick. 
There are iew Chinese beggars in the streets, and few Chinese 
patients in the public hospitals. The common laborers are 
brought to the State under contract to work for several years 
at a low rate of wages (from four to eight dollars) per month ; 
and they usually keep these contracts faithfully. The employ- 
ers in these cases are either the companies, or associations of 
Chinese capitalists. The merchants are considered to be very 
faithful to their promises, and in San Francisco they can get 
credit among their acquaintances quite as readily as other men 
in similar branches of business. In the mines, the Chinamen 
work in the poorest class of diggings. They own no ditches, 
large flumes, hydraulic claims, or tunnel claims. The white 
miners have a violent antipathy to them, will not permit them 
to work in many districts, and will often drive them from their 
best claims in the districts where they are permitted to work. 
Sometimes the Celestials venture to dam a stream, but not 
often. They use the rocker more than any other class of miners. 



42 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

In San Francisco, tlie merchants ai'e usually in pavtnersliips, 
with not less than three nor more than ten jjartners, all of 
whom live in the store, and deal chiefly in Chinese silks, teas, 
rice, and dried fish. The two latter articles form a large por- 
tion of the food of the Chinamen in the State. They have not 
learned to use bread instead of rice. Those who can afford it 
eat pork, chickens, and ducks. Beef, and most of our garden 
vegetables, do not find much favor with them, even among 
the wealthiest. The washermen are usually in companies of 
two or three, and they have numerous little shops in the streets 
of San Francisco, and in the smaller towns. They sprinkle 
their clothes, jirevious to ironing, by filling the mouth with 
water and then blowing it over them. For ironing, instead of 
a flat-iron, they use an iron pan with a smooth bottom, and 
kept full of burning charcoal. 

The Chinese men, women, and children learn English very 
slowly ; most of those who have been five or six years in the 
State cannot understand the most common Euglisli words. 
All the Chinamen in California adhere to tlieir national cos- 
tume, with some slight variations. They wear their hair long, 
use no white muslin or linen next the skin, and very few ever 
put on a dress coat or stove-pipe hat. In the cities, they or- 
dinarily use wooden-soled shoes, with thin cotton uppers. In- 
stead of a coat they have a short blouse, generally of dai'k- 
blue cotton, fitting close up to the neck. The wealthy have 
this blouse made of silk or fur. In cold weather, if of silk or 
cotton, it is wadded. The legs and lower part of the body 
are enclosed in breeches of cotton or silk, tight from the thigh 
down, and loose above. Trowsers, boots, and felt hats are 
common. 

The law tolerates the Chinese. A treaty gives them the 
right of coming to our country, living here, and engaging in 
business ; but they are excluded from the privileges of natu- 
I'alization, 

The statutes of California levying a tax of $50 each on all 



SOCIETY. 43 

Chinese immigrants, and a tax of $4 per month on all Chinese 
miners, have been declared void by the Courts ; and the stat- 
ute forbidding them to testify against a white man was re- 
pealed by the new Code, in a clause of which the people knew 
notliing till after its adoption. Public sentiment and partizan 
policy in California are decidedly hostile to the Chinamen, 
have shown them no mercy, and have not insisted on the pun- 
ishment of the numerous crimes committed against them. The 
Chinamen have no votes, elect no officers, support no news- 
papers, and have few advocates. 

Riots, to beat and murder Chinamen, to destroy their 
houses, and to drive them away from places where they were 
employed, have been frequent in the State. Many public 
meetings have been held to fan the hatred against them into 
flames. A prominent politician, in a public speech, expressed 
a wish that the Pacific Mail steamers which bring immigrants 
from Canton, should be burned. A Jesuit priest, in 1873, de- 
livered an anti-Chinese address in a Catholic Church in San 
Francisco, and in its course thus addressed his auditory : 

" If, I say, they [the Chinese] should ever become domiciled 
in our country, your posterity will be doomed to a miserable 
fate — a fate ao-ainst which it will be useless for them to strusc- 
gle, for it will not have the power to resist ; and bitter, aye 
bitter, will be the curses on your memory, when you are gone, 
for the legacy which you have left to it." 

The address was published in full in the Monitor^ the lead- 
ing organ of the Catholic Cluirch in California, and was com- 
mended editorially as an " admirable discourse." 

Cliinamen are exposed every wliere to insult and injury, as a 
hated and helpless race must be everywhere, if there are ruf- 
fians among their enemies. They are, besides, exposed to mob 
violence in case they should enter into new employments. 
They would not dare to work in the gold quartz mines at Grass 
Valley or Sutter Creek ; nor would it be safe for them to un- 
dertake to do work of stevedores or hod-men in San Fran- 



44 KESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

cisco. Assault and murder would be the probable punishnient 
of such grievous oftenses. Arson has been used often aijjainst 
them and their employers. Factories, quartz mills, wheat 
stacks, and dwellings, have been burned on many occasions ; 
half a dozen white men have been assassinated, because they 
hired Celestials. The owners of several factories have dis- 
missed Chinese operatives in times of anti-Chinese excitement, 
to save their property from the torch. 

Hundreds of farmers, miners, and manufacturers would like 
to hire Celestials, but dare not offend the anti-Chinese ruffians. 
The Chinese have been employed extensively on the railroads, 
but would not have been if their Avork had been combustible, 
or if the directors of the companies had lived near the line of 
their roads in solitary houses, where assassination would prob- 
ably have escaped detection. Tlie opportunity for tlie crime, 
but not the will, was lacking. Chinamen do not erect costly 
houses in solitary places, nor in small towns ; but they have 
purchased some good buildings in San Francisco, where they 
ai'e protected against fire by the abundance of people and by 
the fears of the conflagrations extending to the property of 
white men. Even in the metropolis, with its crowded streets 
and numerous policemen, the Celestial wash men usually have 
their windows boarded up to keep out murderous cobble- 
stones. While the great majority of the white people treat the 
yellow men kindly, still there are enough rulhaus to make 
their condition unenviable. They live among us by suflei-ance, 
and all want to leave so soon as they can save enougli to enjoy 
comfort elsewhere. 

It is said that the Chinamen should not be tolerated here 
because they are an infe]'ior caste, they do not learn our lan- 
guage or customs, they send away the money of the country, 
they make no improvements, they pay few taxes, and they 
are immoral Pagans, and enslaved. The only slavery among 
them in California, is an honest compliance witli their contracts, 
entered into freely. They ])ay their debts incurred for their 



SOCIETY. 45 

passage money, and tliat is a kind of slavery that miglit pre- 
vail more extensively among other nationalities without hurt- 
ing them. 

The Paganism is brought up only as an excuse for persecu- 
tion. If industry, economy, sobriety, fidelity in service to the 
extent of their knowledge, humanity, peaceful disposition, good 
order, kindness of manner, prompt payment of debts, and at- 
tention to their own business, be immoral, then the Chinamen 
are. There can be no caste in California except in so far as 
their exposure of crime, and their submission to illegal violence, 
makes them an unfortunate class. They are free, and their 
children born here are citizens and voters ; and, under such cir- 
cumstances, caste is not possible. 

Should they be blamed for not erecting houses for their ene- 
mies to burn, or can Ave find fault if they send away money 
which they can neither invest nor enjoy here in security? 
Could we expect them to adopt our customs or language, when 
we show to them that they must not think of this as their 
home ? If California wants them to study her interests, she 
should study tlieirs. The highest triumph of statesmanship 
consists in bidding successfully for men, and the grossest of all 
])olitical blunders have been committed by driving away in- 
dustrious, skillful, peaceful, and honest workers. France and 
Spain, by such mistakes, enriched Holland and England ; and 
perhaps California can» enrich Oregon or British Columbia in 
a like manner. The Cliinese are a very desirable class of 
inhaljitants. They have all the natural qualities needed to 
make a rich and happy State ; and if they understood that 
they could enjoy their wealth here, they would probably soon 
change their policy, and fit themselves for the country, by 
making greater efforts to learn its language and customs, by 
adopting the Avhites' costume, building good houses, and bring- 
ing their women with them. 

Complaint is made that the Chinamen deprive the poor 
white men of employment and drive them from the State ; 



46 RESOURCES OP CALIFORNIA, 

but tliere is reason to believe tliat the Chinamen support in- 
directly a large proportion of the while men in California, and 
that the larger the number of Chinamen the more wliite men 
will be needed and the greater tlieir profit will be. We owe to 
them nearly all our railroads, all the large irrigation ditches 
lately built or now in progress, nearly all our reclamation 
dykes, most of our factories, and many of our wagon roads. 
Without their help we could not manage our vineyards, our 
orchards, or our grain harvests. If we could not atford to do 
without the Chinamen now here, we should not lose anything 
by having more of them. There is room here for 3,000,000, 
and we would have had that number if those here had been 
received properly, and they would indirectly or directly sup- 
port at least as many white people. But when we are to 
obtain 2,000,000 whites under our present policy is extremely 
doubtful. With a population of 4,000,000, ( and Italy witii 
a smaller area has 24,000,000) our farms, our quartz mines, 
our town lots, our railroads, and all our property, would be 
vastly increased in value, and thousands of white men who 
are now barely able to support themselves and maintain their 
possessions, woitld then be wealthy. 

Any considerable addition made to the number of Indus- 
trious, skillful, and economical workmen must add to the value 
of land. The interest of the land-owner in a country where 
most of the area is the property of thtf Government, and is 
oftered by it as a gift to poor citizens, must be the interest of 
the State ; and if it were in conflict with the interest of home- 
less and landless laborers, then the latter should be sacrificed. 
The Cliinese dig at least $6,000,000 annually, or nearly one- 
third the gold yield of the State. We could not do without 
that. They are indispensable in our kitchens. If tlie China- 
men were expelled, a thousand white families would break up 
house-keeping, and never resume it again. Thousands of farm- 
houses, country hotels, and boarding-houses in the small 
towns, would be in confusion, if the Chinamen should all 



SOCIETY. 47 

leave. But the cliief siifterer would be San Francisco, which 
would rind many factories closed, five hundred houses vacant, 
and several tliousand white men deprived of their incomes. 

The idea that industrious, economical, and skillful laborers 
can impoverisli a country, is absurd. Tiiey must enrich it. 
The lower the wages for which they work, the greater the prof- 
it made by the remainder of the community. The more of 
the cheap laborers, the better for the others. The white men 
have vast advantages in the possession of all the capital, the 
language, the mechanical skill, the government, and the ex- 
clusive right of clairaiug mines and preempting farms on the 
Federal domain. Under these circumstances, if they cannot 
compete with the Chinamen, then for the welfare of California, 
they should give way before the stronger race. But there is 
no danger that the white men would be driven ont of Cali- 
fornia. On the contrary, the more Chinamen, the more white 
men. 

Fears have been entertained that the poor whites would be 
swamped by the immigration of Celestials, not only to Cali- 
fornia, but also to the Atlantic States and Europe ; but there is 
no ground for apprehension. The estimate of 350,000,000 in- 
habitants for China is too high by 100,000,000, according to 
the latest authorities ; and if the Chinese emigrants were kindly 
received and properly taught the useful arts in Christian lands, 
factories in the valleys of the Yangtze and Hoangho would 
soon furnish employment for their surplus labor. It is the in- 
terest of California that the Chinese should emigrate, partly 
to stimulate business in China, partly to increase production 
on all the coasts of the Pacific, and partly to provide numer- 
ous skilled laborers, who will go back to their native country 
and help to build up their manufactories of iron, cotton, silk, 
wool, etc., with the help of steam. China has the coal, the 
iron, the labor, and the capital, and when the skill shall be pro- 
vided, the work will soon be done. Our prosperity is intim- 
ately associated with that of our Asiatic neighbors. 



48 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

§ 39. Indians. — Tlie ladiaus are a miserable i-ace, destined 
to speedy extinction. Twenty-five years ago they numbered 
fifty thousand or more ; now there may be seven thousand of 
them. They were driven from their hunting-grounds and 
fishing places by the whites, and they stole cattle for food ; 
and to punish and prevent their stealing, the wliites made war 
on them and slew them. Such has been the origin of most of 
the Indian wars whicli have raged in various parts of the State 
at intervals since 1849. The poor Indian, afoot, and armed 
only witli the bow and arrow, is no matcli for the ricli Ameri- 
can, armed with rifle and revolver, and mounted on a horse, 
which saves liim from fatigue, takes him swiftly to the best 
point of attack, or carries him still more swiftly from danger. 
For every white man that has been killed, fifty Indians have 
fallen. 

In 1848, nearly every little valley had its tribe, and there 
were dozens of tribes in the Sacramento basin ; but now most 
of these tribes have been entirely destroyed. Disease and 
brandy have cooperated with the bullet and the knife, to make 
room for the white men. The Indians are fond of strong 
liquor, and wlien tliey can get it, frequently become liabitual 
drunkards. The squaws drink as much as the " bucks." 
Among a tribe of drunken men and women, matrimonial con- 
stancy is not to be expected ; nor is it found among the Indian 
women in California. The infectious disease which threatens 
to utterly destroy all barbarous and semi-barbarous nations, 
has slain many of the red men in tliis State, as well as in other 
parts of the continent. 

The Indians of California, with the exception of the Mojaves, 
are supposed to beh^ng to the general division of tlie Shosho- 
uees, which includes also the Indians of Nevada, and a major- 
ity of those in Utah. They are physically and intellectually 
inferior to their relatives in Nevada, and far inferior to the 
Indians wlio dwelt during the last century east of the Missis- 
sippi River. Tlie red men of this State have but a small 



SOCIETY. 49 

shave of the courage, militai-y spirit, and intellectual activity 
of the Shawnees, Miarais, Delawares, and the other tribes who 
contended so stoutly for the possession of the valley of the 
Ohio. The majority of the Californian Indians never learned 
to use fire-arms, and never dared to meet tlie wliite men in 
battle. A few in the northern part of tlie State liave rifles, 
use them well, and fight stubbornly, but they are a small pro- 
portion. 

The Californian Indian men are about five feet and a half 
high on an average, and the women four feet and ten inches. 
They ai'e very thick in the chest, and have voices of wonderful 
strength. The children are clumsy, and heavy set. The women 
are very wide in the shoulders and hips, and strongly built. 
Men and women are large in the body, and slim in the 
legs and arms, as compared with Caucasians. When not 
affected by hereditary diseases, caught from the white men, 
the Californian Indians have healthy constitutions, and for- 
merly they lived to a great age. During the last ten years, a 
number have died, with the reputation of being more than one 
hundred and twenty years old. It is a common assertion that 
the wild Indians never take cold. Daring the winterof 1849- 
'50, I lived near a tribe in the mines, in what is now Shasta 
County, and I saw that the men never wore any clothing save 
a deerskin thrown over the shoulders ; that men, women, and 
children went barefooted through a winter when snow lay on 
the ground for a week at a time, and that their huts were only 
about six feet wide, were open on all sides, and on two sides 
had holes large enough for men to get in and out ; and I never 
saw one troubled with a cold or cough. In the tribes living 
far from the whites, the men usually go naked, and the women 
wear a petticoat made by fastening flags or strips of bark, 
about eighteen inches long, to a girdle. They are filtliy in 
their habits, and their liouses are always filled with vermin. 
Their form of government is simple. They have hereditary 
chiefs who have little power. The tribes are small, and have 
4 



50 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

no wealtli and no laws. Occasionally a member of a tribe 
gives offense, and some of the leaders agree to kill bim, and 
the sentence is carried into effect by waylaying bim and 
shooting him with aiTOws. Their rule is blood for blood. 
They rarely keep men prisoners, but kill adult male captives 
immediately. Women and children are held frequently as 
prisoners ; and one of the most common causes of war is the 
capture of women. They liave no hereditary slavery. 
They have no maiTiage ceremony, and the duration of the 
marriage relation depends entirely upon the pleasure of the 
husband. Polygamy is permitted by many of the tribes. 
The women are not prolific, or at least the children are few, 
and mostly boys. The girls are neglected, or intentionally 
killed soon after birth, and this policy would, if continued, 
soon cause an extinction of the race in California. In 
certain tribes on the northern coast, if a mother, having 
an infant child, dies, the child is buried with her. Most of 
the tribes burn their dead, commencing the cremation in the 
evening, and keeping up the fire all night, while the friends 
watch, and the women relatives utter plaintive cries until day- 
light. They have no religious ceremonies ; or no ceremonies 
to which they attach ideas clearly religious. Every year, 
usually in the spring, they have a dance, as it is called. They 
assemble, build a large fire, and the men surround it, and 
keeping their knees, elbows, and backs bent, they beat time 
with their feet to a monotonous song, which they sing with 
tlie assistance of the squaws, who sit off on one side. In some 
tribes, several of the men have pipes, from which they elicit a 
few notes as an accompaniment for the song. 

The squaws are treated like slaves. Tiiey are required to 
do all the work, and to attend to every want of their hus- 
bands. They must collect vegetable food, prepare it, and 
carry all the movable property in times of migration. They 
are beaten on the slightest provocation. The men never con- 
sult them about the management of public or private afiairs. 



SOCIETY. 51 

Tliey are bought as merchandise from tlie parent, and treated 
as slaves after the purchase. 

Most of the wild Indians have no permanent place of resi- 
dence. Each tribe has a territory which it considers its own, 
and witliin which its members move about. Each family has 
a hut, and a cluster of these huts is called a rcmcheria. The 
rancherias are usually established on the banks of streams, in 
the vicinity of oak-trees, horse-chestnut bushes, and patches of 
wild clover. Such places are generally on fertile soil, with pic- 
turesque scenery. In the Sacramento Valley the most common 
plan for a hut was to dig a hole three or four feet deep and 
ten feet across ; erect an upright post in the center, about six 
feet high ; lay poles from the edge of the hole to rest on this 
post, and cover the poles with grass and then witii dirt. In 
some districts the hut is made by taking large pieces of pine 
bark and laying them against a frame- work of poles fastened 
together in a conical shape. In the San Joaquin Valley it 
was more convenient to make a frame-work of poles, and 
cover it with rushes or tules. These huts may be deserted for 
a time, but are considered the property of the builders, who 
move, according to the seasons, to those places where they can 
obtain food most conveniently. In one month they go to the 
thickets ; in another, to the open plain ; in another, to the 
streams. 

Their food is composed chiefly of acorns, clover, grass, grass 
seeds, grasshoppers, horse-chestnuts, fish, game, pine-nuts, edible 
roots and berries. The acorns of California are large, abund- 
ant, and some of them are not unpleasant to the taste, but 
they do not contain much nutriment as compared with an 
equal bulk of those articles commonly used for food by the 
Caucasian race. The acorns are gathered by the squaws, and 
are preserved in various methods. The most common plan is 
to build a basket with twigs and rushes in an oak tree, and 
keep the acorns tliere. Tiie acorns are prepared for eating by 
grinding them and boiling them with water into a thick paste, 



52 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

or by baking them in bread. The oven is a hole in the ground 
about eighteen inches cubic. Red-hot stones are placed at the 
bottom of the hole, a little dry sand or loam is thrown over 
them, and next comes a layer of dry leaves. The dough or 
paste is poured into the hole until it is two inches or three 
inches deep. Then comes another layer of leaves, more sand, 
red-hot stones, and finally dirt. At the end of five or six 
hours the oven has cooled down, and the bread is taken out, 
an irregular mass, nearly black in color, not at all handsome 
to the eye or agreeable to the palate, and mixed with leaves 
and dirt. For grinding the acorns, a stone mortar is used. 
This mortar is sometimes nearly fiat, with a hollow not more 
than two inches deep ; and occasionally one will be seen fifteen 
inches deep, and not more than three inches thick in any part 
of it. The pestle is of stone, round, ten inches long and three 
thick. 

Horse-chestnuts are usually made into a gruel or soup. Af- 
ter being ground in the mortar, they are mixed with water in 
a waterproof basket, into whicli red-hot stones are thrown, and 
thus the soup is cooked. As the stones when taken from tlie 
fire have dirt and ashes adhering to them, the soup is not 
clean, and it often sets the teeth on edge. 

Grass-seeds are ground in the mortar, and roasted or made 
into soup. 

Grasshoppers are roasted, and eaten without further prepara- 
tion, or mashed up with berries. 

• Fish and meat are broiled on the coals. The intestines and 
blood are eaten, as well as the muscle. 

Clover and grass are eaten raw. The Indians go out into 
the clover patches, pull up the clover with tlicir hands, and 
eat stalks, leaves, and fiowers. They consider clover a great 
blessing, and get fat on it. 

The Indians rarely have salt and spices, and most of their 
food is such as a white man could not eat, unless reduced to 
near starvation. In eating they have no plates, cups, knives, 



SOCIETY. 53 

or forks, nor do they use any utensils in prepai-ing their food, 
save tlie mortar and waterproof basket. The pine-nuts, edi- 
ble roots, and berries, are eaten raw. Bugs, lizards, and snakes 
are all considered good for food. In those places where the 
tules grow, the roots of those rushes are eaten. Except one or 
two tribes in the Colorado Desert, the wild Indians of California 
never tilled the soil. 

They use very few tools. The bow was the only weapon 
for killing quadrupeds. It is made of a reddish wood, said to 
be the western yew, and on the back the bow is strengthened 
with a covering of deer's sinews. The arrows are of reed, and 
have a head made of obsidian, a transparent, vitreous sub- 
stance of volcanic origin, in appearance very similar to a coai'se 
quality of glass. The arrow-heads are made two inches 
long, half an inch wide, and an eighth of an inch thick, with 
a vei-y sliarp point and sharp edges. The head is fastened in a 
split of the shaft of the arrow by tying with deer's sinews. 
Such an arrow-head can be used but once, for the obsidian is 
as brittle as glass and breaks at the first shock. Some tribes, 
in the northern part of the State, poison their arrows by irri- 
tating a rattlesnake and then thrusting forward a fresh deer's 
liver, which it will bite. After it has bitten repeatedly, and 
thrown some of its poison at every bite into the liver, the lat- 
ter is buried and allowed to putrefy. It is then dug up, the 
arrow-head is dipped in it, and allowed to dry. An arrow thus 
poisoned will kill a man, a horse, or an ox in twenty-four 
hours, or less time ; and it is said that the meat of an animal 
thus killed may be eaten with safety. I know that the Indi- 
ans eat the meat of animals killed with poisoned arrows, 
but I am not positive that the poison was prepared in this 
manner. Tlie pokon of a rattlesnake is not injurious when 
taken into a sound stomach : it is only when injected into the 
blood that its injurious influences are felt. The arrows, even 
when not poisoned, make very dangerous wounds, for the sinew 
used to fasten the head soon softens, and allows the head 
to remain when the shaft is pulled out. 



RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

Tlie Indians are very familiar with the liabits of wild ani- 
■ als. They know procij^ely the character of the brushwood 
and ravines in which the deer and bear liide during the day, 
and the places to which they go to feed in the morning and 
evening. In liunting deer and antelope, in places where there 
is grass eighteen inches or two feet high, tlie Indian will often 
hold the skull and horns of a buck deer before him, and thus 
crawl within bow shot. The Pit River Indians dig pits about 
five feet cubic, and cover them with brush and grass, and thus 
catch deer, hares, and so forth. For catching wild geese, vari- 
ous small and simple kinds of nets are used, and they are 
knocked down with clubs. Salmon are killed with stones and 
clubs in shallow Avater, and are caught M'ith spears. Their 
most ingenious spear has a head of bone about one inch and a 
half long, and sharp at both ends. To the middle is fastened a 
string, which is attached to the spear-shaft. One end of the 
head fits in a socket at the end of the spear-shaft. When the 
spear is thrown, the head comes out of the socket and turns 
cross-ways in the fish, and then there is no danger that it will 
tear out. The Indians rarely hunt the grizzly bear. Along 
the ocean beach they get barnacles. Their method of catching 
gi'asshoppers is to dig a hole several feet deep, in a valley 
where this species of game abounds, A large number of the 
Indians then arm themselves with bushes, and commence at a 
distance to drive the gi'asshoppers from all sides toward the 
hole, into Avhich the insects finally fall, and from which they 
cannot escape. The pine-nuts are sought at the tops of the 
pine-trees, which the " bucks " ascend by holding to the rough 
bark with their hands, and pressing out with their legs, so that 
they do not touch the body to the trunk of the tree in going 
up. It is more like walking than climbing. 

The bow and arrow, the spear, the net, the obsidian knife, 
the mortar, and the basket, are the only tools made by the 
Indian. Tlie obsidian knife is merely a piece of obsidian, as 
large as a hand, and sharp on one side. The baskets are all 



SOCIETY. 55 

made of wire-grass, a grass with a round jointless stem, about 
a sixteenth of an inch thick and a foot long. The basket- 
work made with tliis wire-grass resembles the texture of a 
coarse Panama hat, and is waterproof All the basket-work 
of tlie Californian Indians is made of this material. The most 
common shape for the basket is a perpendicular half of a cone, 
three feet long and eigliteen inches wide, open at the top. 
The basket, carried on the backs of the squaws, is iised for 
carrying food, miscellaneous articles, and children. Neither 
the Californian Indians of the present, nor of any preceding 
century, made such mounds, circumvallations, arrow-heads, or 
spear-heads of llint, or pipes and battle-axes of stone, as are 
found in the State of Ohio. There is nothing to indicate that 
any of the inhabitants of the country, previous to the arrival 
of the Spaniards, were above a very low degree of savagism. 
They have no domestic animals save the dog, and that of 
a small kind. They have so little skill in the preservation of 
food, that, like wild beasts, they grow grossly fat in the spring 
and poor in the winter. The Mojave Indians, in the Colorado 
Desert, depend for their subsistence chiefly on cultivated food. 
Tiiey plant wheat, grass, pumpkins, and muskmelons. After 
the annual overflow of the bottom land, a small patch of 
ground is cleared ofl' with the help of knives and fire ; then 
small holes are made, the seeds are deposited, and the field is 
left to grow up as well as it may. The muskmelons are eaten 
fresh ; the pumpkins are eaten fresh, or sliced and dried ; the 
wheat and grass-seeds are ground, made into a paste with 
water, and dried in cakes. The mezquit bean, next to the cul- 
tivated grains, pumjikins, and squashes, is the most important 
article of food with the Indians of the Colorado Desert. These 
beans are prepared for eating in the same manner with the 
wheat and grass-seed. 

The preceding remarks relate to the wild Indians only, and 
are intended to illustrate the natural habits, character, and 
capacity of the race. . During the last fifteen years, however, 



56 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

they have all been influenced so much by intercourse with the 
whites, tljat they have lost many of their wild habits and ac- 
quired new ones. In some districts they have fire-arms ; in 
others they obtain much of their food and clothing from their 
Caucasian neio-hbors. In the counties along the southern 
coast, there are many civilized Indians, who live in adobe 
houses, and support themselves by herding cattle, breaking 
horses, and working in the gi-ain fields, orchards, and vine- 
yards. They have lost much of the savage expression of 
countenance, and some of them have become very industrious 
and trustworthy laborers ; but the majority are idle and dissi- 
pated in their habits. Tiiey have all learned a vulgar dialect 
of tlie Spanish, and a few speak a little English. The young- 
er ones know notliing of any tongue save English and Span- 
ish, but the elder Indians, when talking with one another, pre- 
fer to use the language of their fathers. 

§ 40. Mining 2'owns. — The towns of California are seaport, 
inlandport, railroad, agricultural, and mining. The mining 
towns enjoyed their greatest prosperity from 1852 to 18G0. 
Wea verville, Shasta, Oroville, Quincy, Nevada, Auburn, Down- 
ieville, San Andreas, Jackson, Sonoma, and jNIariposa, are the 
county-seats of various mining counties. Most of them are 
built with crooked streets through the middle of a canon, 
which near the middle is densely lined with stores, billiard 
rooms, liquor shops, and restaurants. The dwellings are scat- 
tered about irregularly : some are neatly built and are sur- 
rounded with pleasant gardens ; the majority are miserable 
little shanties or log-cabins, with no yard, flowers, or fruit- 
trees to give an appearance of home. The population is not 
permanent. One year the peoj^le are here, next they are else- 
where. In 1854 Oroville was laid out; in 1857 it cast one 
thousand votes, in 1860 its glory had departed, and at least a 
dozen towns have now a larger population and a larger trade. 
Copperopolis has now a population of about 200 ; in 18G4 it 
cast 564 votes. Columbia in 1860 cast 1,008, and in 1873, 



SOCIETY. 57 

341 A'otes. Mokelumiie Ilill was for a long time one of the 
leading towns of tlie State ; now it has very little importance. 
Nevada and Grass Valley have suffered less decline than any 
other gold-mining towns wliich were prominent fifteen years 
ago ; the former liad 3,986 and the latter 7,063 inhabitants in 
1870. The mines in their vicinity are not yet exhausted. 
From 1860 to 1864, when the main traffic across the Sierra 
Nevada passed through Placerville, that was one of the busi- 
est towns in the State. 

§ 41. Inland Ports. — Sacramento, at the head of naviga- 
tion for large river steamers, and Red Bluff for small steamers 
on the Sacramento, and Marysville for small steamers on the 
Feather River, are tlie only places that could properly be 
called river ports. The slough ports are San Rafael, Peta- 
luma, Napa, Suisun, Stockton, Pacheco, Oakland, Union City, 
Alviso, and Redwood. All these inland ports, save Union 
City, Alviso, and Pacheco, have been supplied with railroads, 
but Red Bluff, Suisun, Stockton and Petaluma have been 
seriously injured by the railroad influence. Slough traffic is 
still maintained, but it has lost much of its importance. 

§ 42. Railroad Towns. — Before the San Joaquin Valley 
Railroad had been built, the towns of Empire and Paradise 
were established on the Stanislaus River, and Tuolumne City 
on the Tuolumne River ; but the iron track passed to the 
west of them, and tliey were moved to the road. It is the 
misfortune of Visalia and Shasta tliat they are not on the 
main road passing through tlie middle of the Saci-amento- 
San Joaquin basin, and Yreka is in danger of being left at 
one side, by tlie California and Oregon Railroad. The towns 
which have derived the most benefit from the railroads, are 
Oakland, Vallejo, Sacramento, Napa, Calistoga, Santa Rosa, 
Healdsburg, Cloverdale, Sau Jose, Gilroy, and Salinas ; and 
with the exception of San Jose, all were founded by Ameri- 
cans. The railroad system of the State will probably, at no 
distant time, reach the southern coast, and give activity and 
population to many of the old Spanish settlements. 



58 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

§ 43. San Francisco. — San Francisco, styled figuratively 
the Golden City, the metropolis of the finance, commerce, 
manufactures, and fashion of the Pacific Coast of North 
America, is situated in latitude 37° 48', about the same dis- 
tance from the equator as Riclimond, Lisbon, Palermo, Ath- 
ens, Smyrna, and Yeddo, and four miles from the Pacific Ocean 
on the western shore of San Francisco Bay. The climate is 
cool throughout the year, never cold enough to freeze, and 
seldom hot enough to make liglit clothing comfortable. The 
average temperature of January, the coldest month, is 49°, 
and of September, the warmest month, 58*^ Fahrenheit, the 
difference being only nine degrees ; whereas the difference be- 
tween January and July is 42° in New York, 25" in London, 
and 30*^ in Naples. No other city in the temperate zone has 
a climate so equable as that of San Francisco ; none in any 
zone has a temperature better suited for the growth of physi- 
cal healtli and development, or for the intellectual and physi- 
cal activity of man. The climate is so cool in summer that 
sunny exposures are preferred for residences, and shade trees 
are very few. In our parks and ornamental grounds we pre- 
fer low, bushy evergreens, not tall, Avide-spreading, deciduous 
trees. The peninsula of San Francisco lias a poor soil, and is 
bare of trees. Daring the late winter and spring the surround- 
ing hills are covered with green grass, but in tlie summer, fall, 
andeai-ly winter, the adjacent country and the city itself have 
a cheerless, dirty, yellow look. 

The people are mostly Americans by birth, but tliei-e are also 
many English, Irish, French, Germans, Italians, Spanish- Amer- 
icans, Scandinavians, Dalmatians, and Chinese. There are 
French, German, Italian, and Spanish newspapet-s ; French, Ger- 
man, and Chinese cliurches, and Frencli, German, and Cliinese 
theatrical companies, which i)erform occasionally. Tlie relig- 
ions in wliich public services are regularly held are : Jewish, 
Buddhist, Catliolic, Protestant, and Spiritualist. The city 
has twenty-eight Protestant and ten Catholic churches, two 



SOCIETY. 59 

Jewish synagogues, and six buildings in whicli Buddhist cere- 
monies are occasionally held. The most splendid edifice de- 
voted to purposes of worsliip in the city is the Synagogue 
Emanu-El. An Episcopal Bishop and a Catholic Arclibishop 
reside here. Among the Protestant churclies are five Presby- 
terian, four Congregationalist, three Baptist, eight Methodist, 
four Episcopal, three Lutheran, and one Unitarian. If, how- 
ever, church-going be necessary to religion, then it might be 
said tliat the majority of the jieople have no religion. On 
pleasant Sundays the cars and ferries are crowded with persons 
going out into the suburbs or the country, to visit ])laces of 
amusement, or to stroll about and enjoy the fresh air. Re- 
ligious prejudices are not strong. Protestant, Catholic, and 
Jew associate together in business and society with the utmost 
friendliness, as if it were better to agi*ee about the affairs of 
this world than to quarrel about those of another. When any 
important financial, social, or political movement is on foot, 
the manao-ers are not satisfied unless all classes are brought in 
and represented. The daily press treat all forms of faith with 
equal respect, and frown upon all attempts to excite religious 
animosities. No church monopolizes the business, the wealth, 
the intelligence, or the political government of the city. The 
Catholics have the most compact religious organization, the 
Jews have a large portion of the importing and treasure trade, 
and the Protestants or persons of Protestant descent hold most 
of the ottices. Under such circumstances, religious bigotry 
cannot thrive. 

There are a vast number of benevolent and social associa- 
tions in the city. There are two Jewish, one German, one 
French, one Spanish, one Scandinavian, one Italian, one Swiss, 
one Dalmatian, and one City Benevolent Societies, fifteen Ma- 
sonic Lodges, nine Odd Fellow Lodges, and at least one each 
of the B'nai B'rith, Druids, American Protestant Association, 
American Mechanics, Seven Wise Men, Knights of Pythias, 
Independent Red Men, Improved Red 'SLen, and Ancient Or- 



60 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

der of Knights. The Catholic Church maintains two Orphan 
Asyhims, a liospital, and a Magdalen Asylum. The Protest- 
ants have an Orphan Asylum, and an association for the re- 
lief of destitute Avomen. The German and French Benevo- 
lent Societies have each a fine hospital. 

San Francisco is, in proportion to its size, the busiest seaport 
of the world. No other city twice as large has so large a trade. 
The annual exports are about $70,000,000, the imports nearly 
as much, the manufactures are worth nearly $20,000,000, the 
real estate sales amount to about $12,000,000, and the cash 
value of the laud, buildings, and movable property of the city, 
is about $300,000,000. We send away about forty tons of 
silver and six tons of gold every month — the former metal in 
bars fifteen inches long and five inches square ; the latter in 
small bars about six inches long, three inches wide, and two 
inches thick. Wagons loaded with the precious metals are 
seen in the streets nearly every day. The profits of mer- 
chants and the wages of mechanics and laborers are high. 

In the matter of public amusements, the city is destined to 
become eminent. The mild winters and cool summers are fa- 
vorable to out-door life. The people spend much of their 
time in the open air. Processions, picnics, excursions, and 
public displays are frequent. Dancing is in fashion through- 
out the year. Two theaters are open almost constantly, and 
we have an opera season every year, besides numerous con- 
certs and lectures. Those who wish to go out in a buggy, 
usually drive to the splendid ocean beach, on a romantic road, 
over the hills west of the city. The spring and early summer, 
when the country is green, is the season for leaving the city. 
The number, however, of those who come to San Francisco for 
pleasure, is much greater than of those who leave it. Every- 
body who lives on the Pacific slo})e wants to make a home in 
this city, or at least to spend some time here. The miner who 
has made a successful strike, the farmer who has a good crop, 
the lawyer who has accumulated a nice property by practice 



SOCIETY. 61 

in the interior, looks forward to the day when he can enjoy 
the fruits of his labor in tlie metropolis of the Pacific. Tliere 
is a multitude, a variety, and a rapid succession of entertain- 
ments, uneqnaled by any city of the New World, save New 
York. The most costly productions, and the greatest delica- 
cies of all quarters of the globe, are here collected. Kearny 
Street, though shorter than Broadway, is not less brilliant. 
Our hotels are palatial in size, furniture, cost, and style of 
management. When we see a city not yet out of her teens 
rivaling in luxuries the capitals of Europe, what grandeur may 
we not expect for her maturer years ? 

San Francisco has the misfortune of standing upon the bare, 
treeless, and sandy point of a peninsula, where constant winds 
render it a matter of difficulty to train up any shrubbery ex- 
cept under the immediate shelter of a house or fence. The 
city has few large i^rivate gardens, and its only large park is 
still new and its trees young and small. The western portion 
of the municipal territory is a waste of sand, and much of the 
southern is a waste of high hills ; and yet for pleasant drives, 
and romantic scenery in the vicinity, San Francisco has no su- 
perior. The view from the Long Bridge on a quiet evening 
is very pleasant, and without a parallel in the United States. 
A beach with an uninterrupted surf like ours would make the 
fortune of an Atlantic watering place. The sea lions are an 
attraction, without their like elsewhere. Saucelito, north of 
the Golden Gate, and only four miles distant, is a very roman- 
tic place. 

San Francisco has a number of views unsurpassed for extent 
in the vicinity of large cities. Rome had seven hills : the me- 
tropolis of California has we know not how many. It may be 
said that she is divided into three amphitheaters, each enclosed 
by hills on three sides : the amphitheater of Yerba Buena, 
east of Russian Hill ; the amphitheater of Spring Valley, west 
of Russian Hill ; and the amphitheatre of the Mission, south 
of Pine Street Hill. From the hill-tops we see the city, and a 



62 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

large area of surroiinding country. Telegraph Hill is 300 
feet high, Russian Hill 360, and Lone Mountain 400 feet. 

Looking out Market Street we see, two miles from Mont- 
gomery Street, two peaks which rise to a thousand feet, and 
command a view of 40 miles distant north, south, and east, 
and 20 miles west. Eight miles south of the city is Mount 
San Bruno, 1,500 feet high; 20 miles north is Tamalpais, 
2,600 feet high ; and 35 miles eastward is Mount Diablo, 3,856 
feet high. 

The population of San Francisco was 149,473 in 1870, ac- 
cording to tlie Federal Census. 

H. G. Langley, who has taken much care to compile an 
annual directory for the last fifteen yeai-s, and has devoted 
special attention to the number of inhabitants, asserts that 
it was 188,000 on the 1st of March, 1873. He says: 

The following estimate of tlie population of this city has been pre- 
pared from careful investigation made during the progress of the can- 
vass for the present volume, and other reliable data ; and in directing 
attention thereto, the compiler believes that the aggregate presented is 
a fair approximation to the actual number : 

White Males over twenty -one 6o, 197 

" Females over eighteen (estimated) 37> 100 

" Males under twenty-one (estimated) 38,641 

" Females under eighteen (estimated) 33>435 

*' Males, names refused, and foreigners not taken in the 

canvass (estimated) 1,800 

Chinese, Male and Female 11 ,000 

Colored, Male and Female i ,550 

Total permanent population 183,723 

To which should be added a large element of our population 
known as " floating," which consists of: 1st. Transient board- 
ers, etc., at hotels, boarding-houses, etc. 2d. Soldiers at the 
fortifications in the harbor. 3d. Persons engaged in navigat- 
ing the bay, who claim the city as their residence. 4th. In- 
mates of Alms House, hospitals, and other charitable institu- 
tions. County Jail, etc. 5th. A large number of persons who 
have no permanent place of abode : tojjcther amounting to 
about 4,600 

Total population, March i, 1873 188,323 



SOCIETY. 63 

According to Langley, the number of buildings in Marcli, 
1872, was 20,287, including 4,720 of brick, and 15,807 of 
wood, and iu tlie year following, six hundred additional build- 
ings were erected. 

The first house was built in 1835, and the place was then 
called Yerba Buena, Spanish for "good herb," applied to a 
species of mint growing in the vicinity. In 1847 the name 
was changed to San Francisco. In 1846 the population was 
six hundred, and had grown to about one thousand in the 
spring of 1848, when the gold fever broke out. During July, 
August, and September, the town was deserted by many of its 
residents ; but as the people became impressed witli the rich- 
ness and extent of tlie mines, and as adventurers began to ar- 
rive from abroad, the population of the town increased, and 
then suddenly it sprang from an obscure village to a world- 
famous city. In May and June, 1850, and in the same months 
the next year, great conllagrations swept away the wooden 
shanties with which the main part of the city was built up ; 
and it was not until the latter half of 1851, that the citizens 
commenced to erect the numerous tine brick stores which now 
ornament the principal business streets. The sand ridges on 
the site of the city were cut down, and the hollows were filled 
in; and the shallow cove in front of the mainland was also 
filled in, and made the foundation for the busiest part of the 
town. 

The hotels of San Francisco are famous for their excellence, 
and also for their cheapness, as compared with houses of equal 
comfort in Ne\v York, Chicago, Paris, and London. The Oc- 
cidental and Cosmopolitan has each accommodations for 400 
guests, the Lick House for 350, and the Grand for 300. The 
price at each (and they are the most costly houses in San 
Francisco) is $3 per day, for board and lodging. The tables 
in all are su})plied with an abundance and variety of the best 
provisions, cooked in the best style. The Lick House dining 
hall is the most elegant room of its kind in tlie United States, 



64 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

and is superior, if report be true, to the dining liall of the 
Grand Hotel at Paris. The restaurants of San Francisco are 
unequaled in the United States. 

§ 44. Sacramento. — Sacramento City, tlio political capital 
and second town of California, is situated near the center of 
the Sacramento basin and of the State — is one hundred and 
twenty-five miles by the course of navigation, and seventy-five 
miles in a direct line, distant from the ocean, on the southeast- 
ern corner of land formed by the junction of the Sacramento 
and American Rivers, at an elevation of fifty feet above the 
sea, in latitude 38° 33' and longitude 121° 20'. The business 
part of the city is about twenty feet above low- water mark in 
the Sacramento River, which, in front of the town, during the 
dry season, rises and falls about a foot with the tide. The 
site is level, and in the midst of a wide plain, most of 
which is bare of trees. Tiie streets are wide and straight, run 
with the cardinal points of the compass, and are designated 
only by numbers and letters. Those parallel with the Sacra- 
mento are first, second, third, and so forth ; those parallel with 
the American are A, B, C, and so on. The main business part 
of the city is near tlie Sacramento, extending from First to 
Sixth, and from H to L streets. Tlie houses and stores there 
are mostly built of brick, one or two stories high. The streets 
are gravelled or planked ; the side-walks are planked or paved 
with brick, and covered with awnings to give protection against 
the sun. In those parts of the town used for dwellings, the 
houses are chiefiy of wood, neatly painted, and surrounded by 
gardens ; and the sti*eets are lined with shade-trees, such as Cot- 
tonwood, willow, sycamore, elm, and locust. There are water- 
works and gas-works. The water is pumped up from the 
Sacramento River, which is so turbid, even at its clearest 
stage, that six inches of mud are deposited monthly in the 
reservoir. 

The first settlement by white men on the site of Sacramento 
was made in 1839, by John A. Sutter, a Swiss by birth, who, 



S'OCIETY. 65 

after liaving served .as a captain in tlie body-guard of Cliarles 
X of France, came to the United States, where he was Amer- 
icanized. He afterwards came to California, and was admitted 
to Mexican citizenship. He obtained a grant of eleven square 
leagues of land on the eastern bank of tlie Sacramento River, 
and under that grant the title to the site of Sacramento City is 
now held. In 1841 he built some adobe buildings, which he 
dignitied with the title of New Helvetia, wliile to the Ameri- 
cans it was generally known as " Sutter's Fort." It was, for 
a long time, the only place where white men had a permanent 
footliold in the Sacramento basin ; and it was a place of im» 
portance, as the fii-st point where the American trappers, 
travelers, and immigrants, entering the territory from the 
eastward, could obtain provisions, ammunition, and horses, 
and rest secure against Indians. Sutter treated all comers 
with the utmost generosity and liberality ; no white man was 
turned a^ny becaiise of inability to.pay for food or lodging. 
The first gold diggings w^ere discovered about twenty-Uve 
miles eastward from the fort, which became the chief trading 
point between San Francisco and the mines. The adventurers 
ascended the Sacramento River to the mouth of the American, 
where they landed, and their goods were taken by ox-wagons 
to the fort, two miles distant, where they prepared themselves 
for the land journey. Before the first year of gold mining 
had come to an end, it M'as evident there must be a town on 
the bank of the Sacramento at the mouth of the American ; so 
the present town site was laid oli' in October, 1848, and the 
New Year's day following, the building of the first house, (of 
logs) near the Sacramento River, was commenced. On the 
8th of January the lots were sold by auction, and were des- 
cribed as lying in the town of " Sacramento." The fort and 
its vicinity continued to be the cliief place of business until 
April, 1841), when tlie bank of the Sacramento was found to be 
much more convenient for purposes of business, and the mer- 
chants and traders moved. The town very soon became the 
5 



66 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

most important center of trade and population in the State, 
next to San Francisco, and it has continued to hold the same 
relative position, growing with the growth of the State, not- 
withstanding many severe disasters to which it has been ex- 
posed. In 1851 there was a serious riot about land titles ; on 
the 3d of November, 1852, the greater part of the town, in- 
cluding six hundred houses, was destroyed by lire, with a 
pecuniary loss estimated at the time at $5,000,000 ; and the 
city was flooded in January, 1850, in March, 1852, in January, 
1853, in December, 1861, and in Januar}' and February, 
1862. In 1853 the business part of the town was raised about 
five feet, the streets being filled in with gravel to that depth, 
and a levee or embankment was built round the city, extend- 
ing about a mile along the bank of the Sacramento, and three 
or four miles along the bank of the American. Tlie flood of 
1861 and '62 proved extremely disastrous. It filled every 
part of the city ; was three feet deep in every street — in some 
places fifteen feet deep. Gardens w^ere destroyed, fences car- 
ried away, domestic animals drowned, furniture ruined, and 
many of tlic people driven to take refuge in San Francisco and 
other towns not afilicted by the general scourge. The business 
district has since been raised above the level of the flood of 
1862, and the embankment of the Central Pacific Railroad 
coming from the north is a great protection to the district 
which has not yet been filled in. 

. The town has many elegant residences and gardens, and the 
vegetation is very luxuriant in the summer. E. B. Crocker 
has a private gallery of oil paintings, including many of great 
merit. 

The State Capitol is 286 feet long, 142 wide, and 220 high 
to the top of its dome ; and its design is creditable as a work 
of architectural art. The cost was about two and a half 
million dollars. 

The site of the town was badly chosen, but the establish- 
.ment of the State Capitol there, and the policy of the Cen- 



SOCIETY. 67 

ti*al Pacific Railroad Company in making it a center for their 
lines, and building most of their workshops there, has main- 
tained its prosperity. 

Its population in 1870, according to the Federal Census, was 
16,283, but 20,000 is the figure generally accepted for the 
present time. The number of votes cast at the presidential 
election in 1872, was 3,509. 

§ 45. Oakland. — Oakland is the prettiest town in Califor- 
nia, and (so far as my observation goes) in the United States, 
and owes its superiority mainly to the luxuriance, variety, 
and beauty of its vegetation, and the elegance of its 
dwellings. It is a suburb of San Francisco, and the residence 
of many wealthy men doing business in the city. Having 
very little trade, its houses are nearly all dwellings, and land 
is cheap as compared with the metropolis. Many of the 
homes are surrounded by fine gardens ; and enough of the 
indigenoiis evergreen oaks have been left to almost hide the 
houses in some parts of the town, and to make the name 
strikingly appropriate. The site is level ; the streets are well 
macadamized ; and three horse, and two steam railroads fur- 
nish convenient and cheap means of access to the neighboring 
country. The State University, and the Deaf, Dumb, and Blind 
Asylum, are beautifully situated at the base of the mountains. 
The population, in 1870, was 10,500, and in 1872, the number 
of voters was 1,877. 

At Oakland, the track of the Central Pacific Railroad ends ; 
but on account of the lack of harbor facilities, it is not the 
terminus. The business is done in San Fi-ancisco, which is 
reached by a wharf extending a mile and a half across the 
mud flat out to deep water, and a ferry boat running two 
miles and a half This wharf was built at an expense of more 
than a million dollars, but is not considered a permanent 
structure, as the teredo, or shipworm, has commenced to eat 
the piles. A plan has been proposed for the construction of 
an artificial harbor in San Antonio Creek, which is the south- 



68 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

em boundary of Oakland, and, for a length of a mile and s 
half, has a width of three hundred j'ards or more, and at its 
head has two lakes or tide water basins, covering an area of 
nine hundred acres. The creek, through much of its length, 
has a depth vaiying from ten to twenty feet at low tide, but 
in front of the mouth of the creek, and all along the Oakland 
shore, a mud flat, covered by less than two feet of water at 
low tide, extends out into the bay, and the ship channel is 
more than a mile distant from the upland. Having no natural 
harbor accessible for large vessels, except the anchorage along- 
side the present wharf, wliich is a temjDorary structure, Oak- 
land has been unable to derive any profit from her extensive 
water front, but a plan has been proposed for making an arti- 
ficial harbor. 

This plan is practicable and important. It contemplates 
the construction of walls three hundred yards apart, from the 
moutli of the creek to deep water, thus extending the creek 
out to ship channel, and avoiding the mud flat which now 
prevents ships from reaching Oakland. The basins at the 
head of the creek will supply a large area of tide water, 
which will sweep through the channel four times a day and 
2)reserve its depth, and perhaps even clean it at first without 
dredging. The construction of the walls in durable style 
would cost several million dollars, but would add five times 
as much as its cost to the market value of Oakland property. 
Such a liai-bor nearly three miles long, 300 yards wide, and 
twenty feet deep, with five miles of excellent frontage, Avould 
be more commodious, secure, and convenient of access, than 
some harbors of consideiable seaports in Europe ; and by its 
construction, Oakland would be fitted to become the main 
railroad terminus of California. The influence of the Rail- 
road Company would be suflicient to transfer thither a large 
part of the business now done at San Francisco. 

The people of Oakland have contemplated the construction 
of this harbor for several years, and several eftbrts have been 



SOCIETY. 69 

made to organize companies to undertake the work ; but capi- 
talists would not take hold witliout a promise from the Rail- 
road Company that it would make Oakland the main terminus 
of all its roads. At present, a proposition is under considera- 
tion to get a Federal appropriation to make the harbor ; and 
as Congress has been accustomed to improve harbors not so 
good by nature, nor so favorably situated for business as this, 
the measure might pass, especially with such powerful lobby 
influences as could bebrouglit to bear in favor of the project. 
Congress has ordered a survey of the creek, and a favorable 
report has been made on the practicability of the project. 

§ 46. San Jose and Santa Clara. — San Jose, fifty miles 
southward from San Francisco, tlie chief town of tlie rich 
Santa Clara Valley, had a population of 9,089 in 1870, and 
cast 1,657 votes in 1872. The town was laid out about the 
beginning of the century, and some of the houses are of adobe, 
and were built before the American conquest. The streets 
are lined with shade-trees, the gardens filled with beautiful 
ornamental trees, fruit-trees, and fiowers, and the dwellings 
are elegant. There are eleven hundred acres of orchard in 
the vicinity. Artesian wells are numerous, and are of great 
value. One of the boasts of San Jose is the " Alameda," 
an avenue three miles long, reaching to Santa Clara, lined 
with willow and cotton wood trees. The trees stand close 
together, and are of large size, so tliat they form a dense 
shade, and between runs a horse railroad, and also a turn- 
pike. 

Santa Clara, three miles westward of San Jos(^, and con- 
nected with it by the Alameda, is a new town, and nearly all 
the houses are of wood. The principal building is the old 
mission church, erected in 1822. It is now used as part of a 
Jesuit College. Tlie mission of Santa Clara was founded in 
1777, and a church was built on the bank of the Guadalupe 
Creek, at a place called " Socoistika," the Indian name of the 
laurel-trees which grew there. Two years later this building 



70 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

was swept away by a flood, and in 1781 a new cburcli was 
commenced, lialf a league distant from the river, in a grove 
of oak-trees, the Indian name of which, " Gerguensen," was 
given to the vicinity. This church was destroyed by an 
earthquake in 1818. The population in 1870 was 3,469. 

§ 47. Stockton. — Stockton had a population of 10,066 in 
1870, and was inferior to Oakland in that respect, and in 1872 
cast 1397 votes (less than the number cast in Vallejo, Oak- 
land, or San Jose); but it may still fairly claim to be the third 
town in the State as a business center, and it may continue to 
improve in the future, being the main river port of the great 
San Joaquin Valley. The town is situated on Stockton 
Slough, ten miles from the San Joaquin River, and 125 
miles fi'om San Francisco by the steamboat route. Boats 
drawing five feet can reach the town at ordinary stages of low 
water, but the channels are narrow and crooked. The tide 
rises about a foot. The town has a pleasant aj^pearance. 
Many of the dwellings are neatly built, and are surrounded 
by elegant gardens. Shade-trees are abundant. Fresh water 
is supplied to the city, for domestic purposes and for irriga- 
ting the gardens, by one hundred and fifty windmills, which 
pump it up through lead pipes, thrust down twenty feet deep 
into auger holes two inches wide. So abundant is the water 
in the soil at that depth, that there is no difiiculty in obtain- 
ing it in this manner. Stockton is nick-named " The City of 
Windmills," and indeed the name appears vei-y appropriate 
to the traveler who ai)}»roaches the town on a windy day, and 
at a distance sees little save a multitude of great arms revolv- 
ing furiously above and among the trees and house-tops. 

The first settlement on the place was made in 1844 by 
Charles M. Weber and Mr. Gulnac, the latter of whom ob- 
tained a grant of the land from the Mexican government in that 
year. They had some trouble with the Indians, and Guhiac 
sold out to his partner, who would not give the rancho up; 
and afterwards, when the place became important for its com- 



SOCIETY. 71 

mercial advantages, lie became the founder and fatlier of the 
town, where ]ie still resides. The name was selected in hon- 
or of Commodore Stockton, who commanded the American 
naval forces on this coast during the war with Mexico, and 
contributed much to the conquest of California. The town, 
like Sacramento and Marysville, was overflowed during the 
great flood of 18G2, the water having covered all the streets 
on the 11th of January, and stood for days more than a foot 
deep, in the highest of tliem. 

The Central Paciflc Railroad runs through Stockton, and a 
railroad twenty miles long, from Milton, in Calaveras County, 
terminates there. 

A company has been organized to cut a canal thirteen miles 
long, from Stockton to Venice, on the San Joaquin River, 
below which point the channel is twenty feet deep, and more 
than a hundred yards wide. Gen. B. S. Alexander, having 
examined the country, has made a written report, to the efiect 
that the project is practicable, and that a canal lOG feet wide 
at the water line, 20 feet deep at mean tide, and 12 miles long, 
will cost $1,207,000 with certain basins and canals. He adds 
that " the day is coming, if it has not already come, when the 
San Joaquin Valley will demand a cheaper outlet for its pro- 
ductions than it is possible to obtain by railroad or a system 
of railroads, and a narrow, crooked, and shallow river." The 
company propose to reduce the expense to $843,000 by reduc- 
ing the width three feet, the depth one foot, and omitting sev- 
eral of the basins designed for turn-outs and other purposes. 

The San Joaquin Valley Railroad forms a j unction with the 
Central Pacific at Lathrop, eight miles south of Stockton. 

§ 48. Vallejo and Carquinez. — Vallejo, situated on an arm 
of San Pablo Bay, called Napa Bay, Vallejo Bay, or Mare 
Island Strait, is twenty-three miles from San Francisco in a 
northeastward direction ; the harbor is five miles long, a 
quarter of a mile wide, thirty feet deep, with excellent protec- 
tion against the winds, and good holding ground. The chan- 



72 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

nel from tlie Golden Gate is a mile wide, twenty-five feet deep 
at low tide at the shallowest place, and distinctly marked by 
prominent headlands. The winds are constant, and there are 
no I'ocks to endanger navigation. The site of the town is an 
extensive plain, which comes down very near to deep water, 
presenting the best natural water front for large vessels on the 
waters tributaiy to the Golden Gate, the sliore elsewhere be- 
ing either rocky, bluif, or mud-flat. The town has now more 
wharves constructed with much less exi)ense than those acces- 
sible for ships elsewhere. The site is at the head of ocean 
navigation, and being only sixty miles fi-om Sacramento in a 
direct line, is in a good position to be the point where the cars 
and ships should meet in the futui-e, as they must meet. The 
water in the harbor is brackish, and the teredo cannot live 
there. Tlie supply of fresh water is abundant and cheap. 

The population in 1870 was 7,391, (less than that of Oakland, 
Stockton, or San Jose) but in 1872 it cast 2,147 votes, surpass- 
ing all those places, and ranking next to Sacramento in that 
respect. 

A great future has been predicted for Vallejo, but the pre- 
dictions have remained without fulfillment for many years. 
Forty-seven ships were loaded there with grain for Europe in 
the twelve mouths ending June 30th, 1873. Railroads run 
from the town to Sacramento, Knight's Landing, Woodland, 
Vacaville, and Calistoga. The town was laid out in 1850 by 
M. G. Vallejo, for the capital of the State. He owned large 
tracts of land, tlien estimated to be worth several millions of 
dollars. Among his possessions was the Suscol Rancho, and 
he was induced to believe that if he would lay ofl:' a town and 
make a liberal ofier of land and money to the State, the capi- 
tal would be established there, and increase tlie value of his 
land so much that he would profit largely by the aflair. The 
suggestion appeared reasonable, and he adopted it, oifering 
mucli land and three hundred and seventy thousand dollars in 
cash for the establishment of the capital at Vallejo — the three 



SOCIETY. 73 

hundred and seventy thousand dollars to be spent in erecting 
public buildings. The ofter was accepted, and the capital was 
located at Vallejo, but the Legislature went thither at 
a time when there were no houses there, and they imme- 
diately Avent away. Seiior Vallejo did not pay the money 
which he had offered, and finally the capital was established 
at Sacramento, Avhere it is likely to remain. The business of 
Vallejo now depends chiefly upon the United States Navy- 
yard and Dry-dock, on 3Iare Island. 

Benicia, on the north bank of the Strait of Carquinez or the 
Silver Gate, may be regarded as a suburb of Valh^jo, from 
which it is six miles distant. The two towns are really twins 
in interest, and each has decided advantages lacking to the 
other. The Strait of Carquinez is the natural center for the 
land and water travel of the State, but the Avater front of 
Benicia is a swamp, and it has obstructed the progress of the 
town. It Avas laid out in 1847 ; for a time it aspired to be the 
great commercial city of the Coast, whicli aspiration it did not 
abandon until as late as 1853. It was twice made the State capi- 
tal, and twice deserted by the Legislature. The houses are 
scattered about so far from each other that the town is called, 
in sport, " The City of Magnificent Distances." A ferry-boat 
crosses the strait to Carquinez about six or eight times every 
day. The population, in 1870, was 1,656. 

Martinez, on the southern side of the Strait of Carquinez, 
and nearlv opposite Benicia, had a population of only 560 in 
1870, but may become an important toAvn imder the influ- 
ence of the Central Pacific Railroad, which will pass through 
the town on its way from Stockton to Oakland, and will thus 
bring much of the travel of the State to the strait. A wide 
and shallow mud flat lies in front of Martinez, but west of the 
town the channel is deep near the shore ; and as the railroad is 
to follow the shore line, warehouses will be built between the 
track and the channel, and there much of the wheat of the San 
Joaquin Valley will pi'obably be loaded for Europe. A steam- 



74 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

ferry l»oat connects Martinez witli Benicia. The town is shel- 
tered by liigli hills from the west and sonth ; Avest, wlience the 
prevalent winds come, and the fog, blown npland from the 
Golden Gate passes to the northward, leaving Martinez and 
vicinity in the sunshine many days, while Benicia is covered 
with a cloud. 

The town of Pacheco was founded in 1858. It is built at 
the head of navigation of the Pacheco Slough, and is the ship- 
ping port of Pacheco, San Ramon, Diablo, and Nassau valleys. 
The distance to Mai-tinez is four miles, further than farmers 
like to haul tlieir grain, when tliey can avoid it. The slough 
is bare at low water ; at high water it is navigable for sloops 
and schooners drawing six feet. The population is about 
1,000. The town will probably lose much of its importance 
after the completion of the Bantas, Martinez, and Oakland 
Raih'oad. 

§ 49. Los Angeles. — The town of Los Angeles, formerly 
called Pueblo de los Angeles, or the Pueblo de la Reiua de los 
Angeles — the town of tlie Queen of the Angels — the largest 
town in the southern part of the State, had a population of 
5,728 in 1870. It was founded about 1780, and was a consid- 
erable town previous to the American conquest, but the finest 
buildings in the place have been erected within the last twelve 
years. The town is situated on the western bank of the Los 
Angeles River, where that stream breaks through the range of 
low hills, twenty miles north of the bay of San Pedro. The 
streets are mostly of good width, but are not straight ; do not 
cross each other at right angles, are not graded, nor are they 
paved. All the old houses are built of adobes, and most of 
them are of one story, with flat roofs of asi)haltum. The new 
houses are of wood and brick. On the northwestern side of 
the town, and very near to the most busy part of it, is a hill 
about sixty feet high, whence an excellent view of the whole 
place may be obtained. The vineyards and gardens ai-e 
beautiful. There are 2,500 or 3,000 acres of brilliant green — 



SOCIETY. 75 

the largest body of land in vineyard, garden, and orchard 
witliin so small a space in the State. Tlie fences fix the atten- 
tion of the stranger. They are made of willow trees, planted 
from nine inciies to two feet apart, the spaces between the 
trunks being filled with poles and brush. After the fences, 
the stranger's notice is attracted by the zanjas, or irrigating 
ditches, which run through the town in every direction. These 
zanjas vary in size, but most of them have a body of water 
three feet wide and a foot deep, running at a speed of five 
miles an hour. They carry the water from the river to the 
gardens, and are absolutely necessary to secure the growth of 
the fences, vines, and many of the fruit-trees, at least when 
young. One of the otlicers of the town is the zMijero, whose 
duty it is to take charge of the zanjas, see that they are kejjt 
in order, and that the water is equally distributed among those 
entitled to it. Entering the enclosures, we are among the 
vines, orange, lemon, lime, citron, pear, apple, peach, olive, 
fig, and walnut trees. Many of the vines are from ten to 
thirty years of age. The population of the place may be de- 
scribed as of three nearly equal classes, Americans, Europeans, 
and Spani>h Californiaus. The Americans own most of the 
houses and land in the town, the Europeans probably do most 
of its trade. Tlie town is the seat of the county government, 
and the chief business place in this part of the State. The 
general impression upon my mind, after spending the last 
week in September in the place, is that it is one of the most 
jjleasant places, known to me, to visit. The luxuriant vegeta- 
tion, with its sub-tro]ncal character, is peculiarly agreeable 
to the sons of the North. The " clime of the sun," " the land 
of the cypress and myrtle," where the citron blooms and the 
golden oranges glow amidst the dark-green leaves, have ever 
been with the poets of the colder lands the symbols of a ter- 
restrial {laradise, and some of the most brilliant verses of 
Goethe and Byron have been inspired by admiration of them. 



76 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

The song of Mignon came vividly before me as I walked 
through the gardens of the City of the Angels. 

" Know'st thou the land where the lemon trees bloom, 
Where the gold orange glows in the green thicket's gloom, 
Where the wind ever soft from the blue heaven blows, 
And groves are of myrtle and olive and rose ?" 

Luscious fruits, of many species and unnumbered varieties, 
loaded the trees. Gentle breezes came through the bowers. 
The water rippled musically through the zanjas. Delicious 
odors came from all the most fragrant riowers of the temper- 
ate zone. Julius Froebel speaks thus of Los Angeles in his 
book, Aus Amerika : " I could wish no better home for my- 
self and my friends than such a one as noble, sensible men 
could here make for themselves. ISTature has preserved here, 
in its workings and phenomena, that medium between too 
much and too little, which was one of the great conditions of 
high civilization in the classic regions of ancient times. In- 
deed, when we seek in other lands for places like Los Angeles 
and Southern California generally, w^e must turn our eyes to 
the Levant. In the United States there are [in 1858] no 
kindred spots." The town is situated on the banks of the 
Los Angeles River, twenty-five miles from the ocean. 

Di'. J, W. Hough writes thus : " The general view of Los 
Angeles, from the old Fort, more nearly resembles tliat of 
Damascus, ' the pearl of the Orient,' than any city I have 
elsewhere seen. The hills skirt it on the north and west, as 
the range of Anti-Lebanon does the eastern city ; while from 
them your eye sweeps over the same broad, brown plain, in 
the midst of which lies an island of verdure, {El Jlerj, or the 
meadows, tl)e Arabs call it) with the city embowered in its 
midst. True, there are no minarets rising from tlie modern 
town, and the Los Angeles River is a poor substitute for the 
ancient Abana ; nor are the desert schooners, which take their 
departure for the Colorado River, much like the caravans 
which leave for the Euphrates. But the vineyards have the 
same luxuriance, the pomegranates the same real blossom, and 



SOCIETY. 77 

the orange-groves the same ravishing beauty, while an occa- 
sional palm, stateliest of trees, gives an oriental air to the 
scene. One misses the ocean view, and the mountains lie 
away upon the horizon ; the city itself is rather irregular and 
has but few line buildings. The beauty is in the environs, 
where lovely cottages and lofty mansions peep out from amid 
bowers in which lemons and limes and apricots are mingled 
with oranges and walnuts and grapes, 

" Los Angeles owes its future promise, as Damascus does its 
past greatness, to the water which flows so freely in its zanjas, 
and to its situation with reference to the interior country. It 
lies on the lap of a wide farming country, and in the midst of 
thrifty settlements, such as El Monte, Los Nietos, Anaheim, 
and Compton, while one who stands at the depot, and sees 
now and then a car load of bullion passing down to the sea, 
or a great wagon loading for Arizona, discerns therein the 
promise of a mighty inland traffic, which, unless diverted when 
the railroad system of the region shall be determined, must 
make Los Angeles an important center." 

The embarcadero, or shipping point of Los Angeles, was San 
Pedro, twenty-five miles distant to the southward, where a 
couple of houses sheltered the few people who found occupa- 
tion in the scanty trade, until 1858, when a small steamer was 
obtained, and used to transport freight from the anchorage of 
the ocean steamers at the San Pedro roadstead, fuur miles up 
an estuary to Wilmington, which soon grew into a little town, 
and now has a population of 1,000. In 1871, Congress appro- 
priated $200,000 to build a breakwater, to make an artificial 
harbor, and afterwards $225,000 more ; and the work is now 
rapidly approaching completion. Some able engineers and 
navigators have expressed the opinion that the breakwater 
would be worthless, and that the harbor would have to be 
built further out ; but the Los Angeles papers say there is no 
longer room to doubt the success of the present structure. If 
this statement be true, the harbor will be at New San Pedro, 



78 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

about half-way between Wilmington and old San Pedro, and 
twenty-three miles from Los Angeles. Whether the break- 
water be a success or not, it is certain that an artiticial harbor 
mxist be made to accommodate the rich and extensive country 
north and east of San Pedro. Tiie -IjOS Angeles people claim 
that, as the Texas and Pacific Railroad will cross the Coast 
mountains at San Gorgoiiio Pass, eighty miles east of their 
town, and the same distance north of San Diego, its main ter- 
minus must be at New San Pedro. 

§ 50. San Diego. — San Diego, which had a population of 
2,300 in 1870, and has gained scA'^eral hundred in the last three 
years, has been made by Congress the western terminus of the 
Texas and Pacific Railroad, now in progress of construction. 
The distance by this road from the Pacific to the Gulf of 
Mexico, at Galveston, is only 1,500 miles, whereas from San 
Francisco to New York the distance is 3,300 miles. The San 
Diego people predict that when their road shall be completed, 
it will be preferred to the middle Pacific for the transportation 
of freight between Asia and the Atlantic cities, and they argue 
that their town will be the rival or equal of San Francisco. 
The harbor of San Diego is excellent, and in many respects un- 
surpassed ; but the entrance is only twenty-five feet deej) at high 
water, and calms off the coast frequently render it difficult for 
sailing vessels to enter or leave the harbor for days at a time, 
whereas, two hundred miles farther north, the trade Avinds are 
almost constant. 

The vicinity of San Diego is poor in agricultural resources. 
The town is in the southwestern corner of a county which is 
sixty miles from north to south, and one hundred and twenty 
miles from the ocean to the Colorado, and that vast area has 
only 5,000 inhabitants, and only 15,000 acres under cultiva- 
tion, or three acres to the person. The population of the city 
is 2,300, and 7,000 square miles in the coimty have only 
2,700 inhabitants, or less than one person to two square miles. 
The western third of the county is nearly all rugged moun- 



SOCIETY. 79 

tains, unfit for tillage, and the eastern two-thirds is desert, 
though much of it may be reclaimed. The rivers are ^mall 
and sliort, and tlieir valleys narrow. Not one irrigating ditch 
is reported for San Diego County, though the average annual 
rainfall is only four inches. The soil is rich in the valleys, 
and, where moist, is very productive. 

The town must rely mainly on the railroad for the fulfill- 
ment of its hopes of active business, though, as a health resort, 
it will always remain in favor. It has excellent accommoda- 
tions for travelers, and is a touching point for the mail steam- 
ers between San Francisco and Panama. 

§ 51. Anaheim. — Anaheim is the only German town in 
the State. It was laid out by Germans, built up by Genuans, 
and is in the main populated and owned by Germans. But it 
will never have the foreign character which marks many Ger- 
man villages in the valley States of the Mis^^issippi, where the 
English language is not known to any of the people. None of 
the Anaheimers have come direct from Germany : all of them 
have lived for some time elsewhere in the United States, and 
most of them speak English fluently. The English language 
will be the predominant tongue, although German will long 
be cherished. Analieim is a tract of land a mile wide by a 
mile and a half long, in the valley of the Santa Ana River, 
Los Angeles County. It was unoccupied, and supposed to be 
of little value in 1857, when it was bought for two dollars an 
acre by a German company of fifty members, mostly residing 
in San Francisco. They were incorporated as a joint-stock 
association. The land, containing one thousand one hundred 
and sixty-eight acres, was divided into fifty lots of twenty 
acres each, with a little town plat in the middle, and conven- 
ient streets. The place was given in charge of a superintend- 
ent, who held his position two years, in which time he 
planted and cultivated eight acres of every lot with vines, and 
put willow hedges (nearly all the fences in Los Angeles 
County are of willow) around the outer boundary of the tract, 



80 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

and along the principal streets inside. During a large part of 
the time lie liired tifty laborers. The total expense for tJie 
two years was seventy thousand dollars, or one thousand four 
hundred dollars per lot of twenty acres, including eight acres 
of vine. The owner of a vineyard lot had a little town lot of 
half an acre besides. In December, 1859, the property was 
divided b}' lot among the members, many of whom afterwards 
moved to the place and made their homes there. Anaheim 
has some advantages over Los Angeles in the regularity of its 
plan, and perhaps, also, in location, (for it is nearer the ocean, 
and farther from the snowy mountains) and in the extent of 
rich land in its neighborhood, and in its location near tlie 
direct line of travel between "Wilmington and San Bernardino. 
It is almost as beautiful as Los Angeles, and in many respects 
bears a great resemblance to that town. The population was 
881 in 1870. 

§ 52. Santa Barbara. — Santa Barbara, in latitude 34'' 24', 
on a shore tliat runs east and west, 50 miles eastward from 
Point Arguello at the southern base of the Santa Inez moun- 
tain range, which shelters it fi*om the north winds, is now one 
of the most prosperous towns in the State, having more than 
doubled its population in the last five years. The number of 
inhabitants in 1870 was 4,000. Its cliief attraction is the 
climate, and many of the new settlers are invalids from the 
Atlantic States. Congress has ordered an examinatiun of the 
estuary of the town, to determine whether an artificial harbor 
can be made there. Tiie town has excellent hotels, and nice 
gardens. 

§ 53. Petaluma. — Petaluma, forty miles north of San 
Francisco, and ten miles from the mouth of Petaluma Creek, 
is the main town of a rich valley, and in 1860 was tlie eightli 
town of the State, and was growing witli great rapidity, being 
then the only outlet of Santa Rosa and Uussian Valleys. But 
it was a slougli port, and when a railroad was built through 
the valley with a terminus four miles below tlie town, it began 



SOCIETY. 81 

to decline, and it has lost some of its voters, and a considera- 
ble portion of its trade. Tlie population in 1870 was 4,588. 

§ 54. Grass Vcdley. — Grass Valley, tlie chief quartz min- 
ing town of the State, is 2,500 feet above the level of the sea, 
and thirteen miles north of Colfax, on the Central Pacific 
Railroad. The site is in the midst of an amphitheater of 
gently rolling hills, which have a fertile red soil, and are cov- 
ered eitlier by nice little homesteads and gardens, or by a 
multitude of young pine trees, which liave arisen to take the 
place of the older trees, cut down to supply firewood or shaft- 
ing timber. A large area is occupied by residences. Several 
square miles must be included within the town plat. Tliere is 
abundant room for the orchards and gai'dens which surround 
many of the dwellings. The ugly piles of boulders, the bare 
rock, and the deep excavations on the hill-sides, which show 
the ravages of the placer miner, are not seen here. Tiiis is the 
home of tlie quartz miner, who has built a comfortable liouse, 
surrounded it with fiowers, and fixed himself to enjo}^ life 
with liis family. Unlike most of the placsr mining camps, 
this is a beautiful town, and it has an appeai-ance of comfort 
and permanence and steady prosperity that would do no dis- 
credit to a thrifty New England village. There is now in tlie 
township a population of 7,000, most of whom are collected in 
the town. Tlie business is suflicient to pay a fair profit, if it 
were evenly divided, to many more. The township is the 
gi'eatest center for gold-quartz mining in the world, and the 
annual gold yield is estimated at $4,000,000, There are 
here, witliin a small area, a number of the richest mines in 
the State. The miners of Grass Valley have two serious dis- 
advantages : the lodes are very narrow, and water is found 
abundantly at a depth of 50 or 75 feet. But the richness of 
the rock, and the proximity to the centers of the population, 
have more than counterbalanced the drawbacks. 

§ 55. Marysville. — From 1855 to 1860, Marysville was the 
first in beauty, and the third in population and trade, among 

6 



82 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

tlie towns of the State, but it was a river port, and lost much 
of its trade wlien the Central Pacific Railroad gave access by 
rail to the mines of Nevada and Butte ; and moreover, the 
production and trade of the mining counties, which formerly 
got their supplies through Marysville, began to decline rapidly 
about the time when the roads were built. Thus it is tliat in 
1872 Marysville cast only 833 votes, whereas, in 1860, it had 
cast 1,871, The population, in 1870, was 4,738. It lies be- 
tween the Feather and Yuba Rivers, at their junction. The 
site, like that of Sacramento, is fiat, and in the midst of the 
large valley, and has been raised artificially above its natural 
level to protect the houses against fioods. Marysville resem- 
bles Sacramento, though smaller. The first settlement was 
made in 1841 by Theodore Cordua, a German, who built a 
couple of adobe houses, and called the place New Mecklen- 
burg. In 1849 several persons built shanties, and the jilace 
was called Yubaville. In January, 1850, the town was laid 
oft", and named after Mrs. Mary Covillaud, the wife of the 
chief proprietor. On the 31st of August and the lOtii of Sep- 
tember, 1851, two large fires occurred, destroying almost the 
whole town. In the spring of 1852 the business part of the 
town was covered with water, and the next year it was raised 
twelve feet. The town was again fiooded in December, 1861, 
and January, 1862. Marysville is at the head of navigation 
on the Feather River. The distance by water is about seventy 
miles from Sacramento ; by the railroad it is forty-five miles. 
§ 56. Visalia. — Visalia is situated in the " Four Creek 
country," about fifteen miles northeastward from Tulare Lake. 
The " Four Creek country " is formed by Cahuilla Creek, 
which, after leaving tlie Sierra Nevada, spreads out into a 
number of channels, and these again subdivide, and moisten- 
ing a considerable district of rich soil, render it very product- 
ive. Visalia has a population of 1,626. It promised to be- 
come one of the leading towns of tlie State, until 1872, when 
the railroad was built through the valley, passing seven miles 



SOCIETY. 83 

to the westward, thus cutting oft' the main trade, and laying 
the foundation of a rival town at Goshen. The town was 
overflowed in tlie flood of 18G2, and the water was two feet 
deep in the main street. 

§ 57. Suisun. — Suisun, a village of about sixty houses, is on 
the western bank of Suisun Slough, in Solano County, about 
ten miles, in a direct line, from Suisun Bay, and sixteen miles 
by the slougli. The place was commenced on a little island, a 
couple of hundred yards in diameter, and no part of it more 
than a foot above the liighest tide. It is surrounded by tules, 
or salt-water rushes, growing on land overflowed at every high 
tide, and bare at low tide. Two roads lead from*the dryland 
of the valley to the city — one of them a plank-road, and now 
in a very dilapidated condition. Most of the streets ai-e subject 
to overflow by spring tides, and the marks of the water can be 
seen upon them, even when dry. A few lots have been raised 
above high tide, by bringing earth from other places ; and en- 
closures are made by" digging ditches, in which the water is 
never more than two feet below the surface. The island, being 
in the tule, was not included in the Suisun grant, and it was 
claimed, in 1853, by two men who laid off" the town. The 
place owed its importance to its advantages as the shipping- 
point of the valley ; but the construction of the California 
Pacific Pailroad lias cut ofl* much of its trade, and its pros- 
perity has been declining for several years. The population, 
in 1870, was 462. The town is one mile from dry land, on the 
edge wliereof, immediately north of Suisun, lies Fairfield, 
which is the county seat, and lias three hundred and twenty- 
nine inhabitants. 

§ 58. Yreka. — Yreka is situated at an elevation of fifteen 
hundred feet al)ove the sea, in the valley of Shasta River, 
about twenty miles northwest from Mount Shasta. It is a 
mining town, being situated in a rich district, and founded 
on pay-dirt. The place is surrounded by high mountains, 
the Siskiyou ridge on the north, the Sierra Nevada on the 



84 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

east, the Scott and Trinity ridges on the south, and tlie 
Coast Range on the west, and is shut in by snows during part 
of every winter. Mucli of tlie merchandise sent out from this 
point to mining camps in the vicinity, goes on pack-mules. 
The goods imported by Yreka are hauled eighty miles, by 
horses, from Redding, the end of tlie railroad. Tlie town is 
on the main road between the Sacramento and "Willamette 
Valleys, and occupies a central position in the basin of the 
Klamath River, and will probably maintain its importance, if 
the railroad be built to run through it. The population, in 
1870, was 1,063. 

§ 59. Nax>a. — Napa was laid off in 1848, by Nathan 
Coombs, at the ford of Napa River, on the road from Benicia 
to Sonoma. In those days there were no bridges or ferries, 
and the ford and the head of navigation for sloops determined 
the location of the town. Now the ford is never used, but 
the investment of capital has made the town permanent. The 
railroad runs through the town, and has been of great benefit. 
It is now a beautiful and growing place. A Branch Insane 
Asylum is being built near Napa. The jDopulation hi 1870 was 
1,879. 

§ 60. Crescent City. — Crescent City is a seaport, fifteen 
miles south of the Oregon line, and in 1870 had 458 inhabit- 
ants. The jilace was founded in 1853, with the expectation 
that, because of its proximity to the mines of the Klamath and 
Rogue River basins, it would become an important commercial 
point for the imports of Southern Oregon and Northern Cali- 
fornia. Its founders, however, were disappointed in tliis ex- 
pectation. The people at the head of the Sacramento Valley, 
, knowing that an attempt was making to cut off a large part 
of their trade, went to work industriously and made a good 
wagon road to Yreka, and thus reduced the freights to that 
place very much. The country westward of Yreka is rug- 
ged, and as the people of Crescent City had not the capi- 
tal to make a wagon road, their goods had to be transported 



SOCIETY. 85 

at much expense on mules ; and Yreka and vicinity con- 
tinue to make their imports and exports by way of the Sacra- 
mento Valley. Crescent City, therefore, remains a small 
place, but it supplies a district within a range of forty or iifty 
miles to the east and northeast. Trinidad, a small seaport, 
is the chief trading point of the miners in Klamath County. 

§ 61. Humboldt Bay Toicns. — The principal town on Hum- 
boldt Bay is Eureka, which had 2,049 inhabitants in 1870. 
Areata had 924, and Bucksport, 388. Eureka has the main 
shipping business, Areata being situated behind a wide mud 
flat. The latter town was long the more important, and in 
1862, 1,500 pack-mules were employed in conveying goods to 
the mines in Trinity and Klamath Counties. Eureka is the 
only town of over two thousand inhabitants in the State with- 
out a telegraphic line. 



86 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 



CHAPTER in. 

C L I .AI A T E . 

§ 62. 3Iain Features. — One of tlie chief advantages of 
' California is its admirable climate. After a careful study of 
all the accessible books relating to the subject — and their num. 
ber is large — I claim and believe it to be more conducive to 
health and comfort, and intellectual and physical activity, than 
that of any other country in the world. Other climates may 
be better, but if so their meterological statistics are not within 
my reach, and they may belong to countries objectionable on 
account of their isolated situation or tlie semi-civilized condi- 
tion of their inhabitants. Among these may be Tasmania, and 
certain districts in the mountains of Mexico and South Amer- 
ica. 

The climate of the valleys in California is unlike that of 
every other country, and particularly dissimilar to tliat of 
the American States east of the Rocky Mountains, resembling 
in general character that of Spain. Its chief peculiarities, 
as distinguished from the Eastern States, are, that the winters 
are warmer; the summers — especially at night — cooler; the 
changes from heat to cold not so great nor so frequent ; the 
quantity of rain less, and confined principally to the winter 
and spring mouths ; the atmosphere drier ; the cloudy days 
fewer ; violent wind storms, tliunder, liglitning, hail, snow, ice, 
and the aurora borealis, rarer ; and the wiuds more regular — 
blowing from the north for fair weather, and from the south 
for raiu. 



CLIMATE. 87 

§ 63. Many Climates. — The State reaches through nearly 
nine and. a half degrees of latitude. San Diego is as far south 
as Cliarleston, three and a half degrees south of Gibraltar. 
and near the parallel of Jerusalem and Shanghae ; and Cres- 
cent City is as far north as Chicago, Providence, Rome, and 
Constantinople. Italy has the same general shape, direction, 
and length as California, but is five degrees further north. 
Much of the Golden State has the winter of South Carolina, 
and the summer of Rhode Island. The orange, the lemon, 
the olive, the fig, the pomegranate, the vine, the peach, the 
apple, wheat, and barley, all find most congenial climes in Cal- 
ifornia. 

The State, indeed, has many climates ; one for the western 
slope of the Coast Range, between Point Argiiello and Cape 
Mendocino ; another for the low land of the Sacramento Ba- 
sin ; another for tlie Sierra Nevada and Klamath Basin ; another 
for the Great Basin of Utah ; another for the coast south of 
Point Conception ; and still another for the Colorado Desert. 

The causes of these peculiarities of climate are chiefly to be 
found in the position of the country — a narrow strip on the 
western side of the continent, bounded on the east by a high 
range of mountains that shuts the coast oif from all the influ- 
ences of the interior ; bordering on the wide Pacific Ocean, 
washed by a warm current flowing across from the China Sea ; 
with a shore line that runs nearly north and south, and is ex- 
posed in all its length to the strong winds constantly blowing- 
southeastward over the ocean ; and with a large, dr}'^ plain in 
the middle of the State ; and a hot, arid desert in the south- 
eastern corner. 

§ 64. Sea Breeze. — The sea breeze is a prominent feature in 
the climate of California. Nearly every day the wind blows 
from the ocean to the land. In the summer its force is stronger 
than in the winter, on account of the great heat of the earth 
in the Sacramento-San Joaquin, Mojave, and Colorado Basins. 
The air there rises after becoming warm, and its place must 



bo RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

be Rupi)Hed by the breezes from the ocean. These leave the 
surface of the Pacific ordinarily with a temperature of 50°, 
and as they advance inland, it rises. Thus, the mean temper- 
ature of July in San Francisco is 57°, in Yallejo 63°, Sacra- 
mento TS'', and St. Helena 77°, the diii'erence being due to the 
greater or less exposure of these several places to the winds 
from the ocean. Two valleys, on the same level, only five 
miles apart, but separated by a high mountain ridge which 
pi'Otects the more eastern of tlie two from the sea breeze, 
may have a ditFerence of 10*^ in their summer \\eather. 

Strong winds blow almost constantly through the gaps in 
the Coast ridge. 

As the sea breeze prevails in the day-time, so the land breeze 
comes in the summer nights, and although not strong enough 
to be noticed in many parts of the State, it is regularly felt in 
certain gaps on the southern coast, and in canonsof the Sierra 
Nevada. The air pouring down from the snow of the summit 
of the Sierra, helps to cool the nights in the valleys, 

§ 65. Middle Coast. — On the coast, between latitudes 35*^ 
and 40°, there is little diiFerence in the temperatures of winter 
and summer. San Francisco is in the same latitude with 
Seville, Palermo, Smyrna, "\\^ashington, and St. Louis, but 
knows neither the cold winters nor the hot sumraei-s wliich 
atHict American cities east of the Rocky Mountains in the 
same latitude. Ice is rarely formed in the Californian metrop- 
olis, and never more than an inch in thickness ; and the ther- 
mometer never stays at the freezing point twenty-four consec- 
utive hours. The lowest point which the thermometer has 
ever reached in San Francisco, since observations have been 
taken, was 22^" Fahrenheit in January, 1862 ; and previous to 
that time it had never fallen below 25'* ; while in St. Louis it 
goes down to 12'' every winter, and remains near that figure 
for many consecutive days. The mean temperature of Jaiuiary 
at sunrise is 44®, and the coldest noon, according to Dr. H. 
Gibbons, between 1850 and 1868, was 37°. In three years 



CLIMATE. 89 

out of five the thermometer does not foil to 32° in tlie daj'- 
time, though a year rarely passes without frost formed at night. 
Rome has a day and a half of snow in average wintei-s ; and 
in San Francisco I have never seen the streets in a mantle of 
white in a residence of more than twenty years. In St. Louis, 
the winter months rarely have a day which is really comforta- 
ble in the open air ; while half the season is so in San Fran- 
cisco, the sky being clear, the sun warm, and the breezes 
gentle, so that the weather bears a strong resemblance in tem- 
perature to the Indian Summer in the upper JMississippi basin. 
Our coldest winter days, at noon, are as warm as the warmest 
in Philadelphia. 

On tlie other hand, the summers are cool or cold. In No- 
vember, 1854, the lowest figure reached by the thermometer 
in San Francisco, Avas 47'', while in July of the same year it 
was at 46° — showing that at no time in the former month 
was it so cold as at one time in the latter, and the weather in 
neither month was exceptional for its season. The mean 
temj^erature of July is 57'', twenty-one degrees lower than in 
Washington city. There are, on an average, seven days in the 
year when the thermometer rises above 80° — at which figure 
beat first begins to be oppressive — while in St. Louis and at 
Washington there are in every year from sixty to ninety days 
that see that height. No matter how warm the day at noon, 
the evenings and mornings are always cool, and blankets are 
necessary — at least a pair of them — as a bed-covering every 
night. Although the mean temperature of summer diflers 
little from that of winter, yet there are sometimes very warm 
days, which may be succeeded immediately by very cool 
nights. 

Professor Robert Von Schlagintweit says that " the climate 
of California resembles in general character that of Italy, but 
has not its objectionable efl:ect of depriving the people of the 
disposition and power of energetic mental and physical labor. 
The dolcefar niente of the southern Italian is unknown in Cal- 
ifornia." 



90 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

Samuel Bowles writes that " there is a steady tone in the 
atmosphere like drauglits of champagne or the subtle presence 
of iron. It invites to labor, and makes it possible. Horses can 
travel more miles liere in a day than at the East, and men 
and women feel impelled to an unusual activity." 

C. L. Brace thinks that " it is the most exhilarating atmos- 
phere in the world," 

The Loudon Spectator said, editorially, that the climate of 
California is that of Greece cooled, and the climate of Tasmania 
is that of England etherealized, and tlie two are the nearest 
perfection in tlie world. 

§ 66. Ban Francisco. — San Francisco seldom suffers more 
than tljree hot days in succession. When the sun lias had an 
opportunity to rage for so long a period, the air in the interior 
of the State becomes so hot, that it rises rapidly ; and the 
ocean-winds, which must rush to supply the place, never fail 
to bring cool weather to the vicinity of the Golden Gate. 
Thus, the mercury has risen (and that was its highest) to 97°, 
and it often falls in July to 46'' ; and such a change of fifty 
degrees might occur within twelve hours. The average range 
of the thermometer in July and August is about 20° — from 
50** to 70'^. Yet, as the mornings and evenings are cool, and 
the noons are not always warm, " summer clothing " is seldom 
worn by men, and never for twelve consecutive hours. The 
common custom is, to wear woolen coats and trousers of the 
same thickness in summer and winter. The pei'sons who visit 
San Francisco during tlie summer, from the interior of the 
State, where the cHmate from May to October is mucli warm- 
er, and where summer clothes are worn, are much botliered 
at having to bring their winter clothes with them. The ed- 
itor of a Stockton paper, disgusted with the climate of the 
metropolis in July, expressed himself somewhat after tliis 
manner : " Yoii go out in the morning shivering, notwith- 
standing the fact that you are dressed in lieavy woolen cloth- 
ing, and under-clothing, and have a thick overcoat buttoned 



CLIMATE. 91 

up to yoiiY throat. At 8.30, you unbutton two of the upper 
buttons; at 9, you unbutton the coat all the way clown ; at 
9.30, you take it off; at 10, you take off your woolen coat, 
and put on a summer coat ; at 11, you take off all your 
woolen and put on light summer clothing ; at 2, it begins to 
grow cool, and you have to put on your woolen again ; and 
by 7 o'clock, your overcoat is buttoned to the chin, and you 
shiver until bedtime." 

The coolness of the summer is caused by the winds and 
fogs, which blow in from the ocean, whose temperature at the 
Farallones never varies more than a degree or two from 42**. 
A strong wind blows along the Coast from the north and 
noi'thwest during almost the whole year ; and it blows strong- 
ly upon the land for several hours after eleven o'clock in the 
morning, and after five in the evening, and not unfrequently 
it continues the whole twenty-four hours. The common prev- 
alence of this wind during the afternoon, renders the morn- 
ings the pleasantest part of the summer weather in San Fran- 
cisco ; and the more delicate and fashionable ladies habitually 
make their calls and allow their children to go, into the street 
only before mid-day. In June, July, and August, heavy, wet, 
cold mists come tip from the sea at six in the evening, and 
continue until eight or nine in the morning. In the winter, 
fogs are rarer, and do not commence so early in the evenings, 
and the winds are not so strong ; so that, in these respects, the 
winter is the pleasanter season of the year. 

The mean temperatures of spring, summer, autumn, and win- 
ter, are 54°, 57°, 56°, and 50° respectively, showing a differ- 
ence of only seven degrees between the average of winter and 
summer ; whereas a similar comparison in the climate of New 
York city, shows a difference of thirty-nine degrees. There is 
a range of two degrees more in San Francisco by taking the 
months separately — January, the coldest month, having a mean 
temperatui'e of 49°, and September, the warmest, a mean of 
58°, October is as warm as July, and in some years it has 



92 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

been warmer. The mean of the whole year is 54°, a temper- 
ature that requires heavy woolen clothing for comfort. For 
vigorous, industrious men, the climate of San Francisco is the 
healthiest and most agreeable in the world, I prefer it to all 
others. But, to enjoy it, a man should have warm blood, full 
veins, and active habits ; if he is weak or idle, he will iiud it 
too cool for him. It is a climate that allows a person to be 
out in the open air all the time ; no hour is lost because of 
either excessive heat or excessive cold. Women do not like 
the climate so well as men ; it is too cool for their less vigor- 
ous constitutions and sedentary habits. 

San Francisco does not lie immediately on tlie ocean, but 
only six miles from it, and where there is a great gap to let in 
the winds and fogs. The nearer the Pacitic, the denser and 
more frequent the fogs, the stronger the winds, tlie warmer the 
winters, and the cooler the summers. The great ocean is a 
powerful equalizer of climate : as you advance into the inte- 
rior, the range of heat and cold becomes greater. In the coast 
valleys you can choose your distance. San Rafael is ten miles 
from the Pacific, Petaluma twenty, Sonoma thirty, Napa 
thirty-five, Suisun forty-five, and Vaca Valley fifty. Sonoma 
Valley has a delightful climate, free from fogs and cold winds, 
and yet blessed with a sea-breeze which tempers the heat of 
every summer day to the precise degree necessary to the per- 
fect happiness of a man who wishes to take life without exer- 
tion, and the same may be said of Santa Clara, and many 
other valleys along the coast. 

■ § 67. Hot Days. — According to the self-registering ther- 
mometer kept in San Francisco by Thomas Tcnncnt, in the 
twenty years preceding the 1st of January, 1872, the mercury 
rose on 13G diflerent days to 80''. The average number of hot 
days in a year is less than seven. In 1861, 1862, and 1863, not 
one hot day occurred ; in 1864, and 1871, two each ; in 1869, 
four ; and five years out of the twenty, had a dozen or more. The 
largest number in one year was twenty-two, in 1855. In the 



SOCIETY. 



93 



score of years, six hot days came in March, twelve in April, 
ten in May, fourteen eacli in June and July, eleven in August, 
forty-one in September, twenty-seven in October, and one in 
November. The average number of hot days is a fraction 
over two for September, vvliich lias more than any other month. 
A singular alteration appears between the six years from 1852 
to 18o7, inclusive, as compared with the next six from 1858 
to 1863, inclusive. In the former period, the number of hot 
days in a year was never less than eleven, and the average 
was thirteen ; while in the latter the highest was seven, and 
the average was less than three. 

The following table shows the number of hot days in San 
Francisco,, when the thermometer reached 80°, for every month 
between March and November, inclusive, in twenty years. 



1852. 

1853- 
1854. 

1855- 
1856. 

1857- 
1858. 

1859- 
i860. 
1861. 
1862. 
1S63. 
1864. 
1865. 
1866. 
1867. 
1868. 
1869. 
1870. 
1871. 



Total 



10 14 14 II 41 27 



1 136 



The number of hot days increases rapidly as we go inland 
and get away from the influence of the ocean winds. 



94 



RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 



§ 68. Sunrise and Noon. — The following table, showing 
the mean temperatures at sunrise and noon, was jjrepavecl by 
Dr. H. Gibbons. 



SUNKISR. 


NOON. 


dog. 


dog. 


44 


56 


47 


60 


4S- 


63 ■ 


49 


65 


50 


64 


51 


68 


52 


67 


53 


67 


53-5 


69 


53 


68 


49 


62 


45 


55 


49-5 


63-7 



JaBuary 

February 

March 

April 

May 

June 

July 

August 

September 

October 

November 

December 

Yearly mean. 



The mean of sunrise rises regularly from January to Sep- 
tember, but that of noon higher in June than in July and 
August. Tiie strong winds called in from the ocean to supply 
the place of the air heated in the Sacramento-San Joaquin 
basin, reduce the temperature of midsummer in San Francisco. 

§ 69. Cold Days. — The number of cold nights, those in 
which the thermometer fell, at San Francisco, to 32°, num- 
bered seventy-four in the twenty years ending June 30th, 1872, 
(according to Thomas Teuueut's self-registering thermometer) 
less than four to the year on an average. Of these seventy- 
four cold days, twenty-four occurred in December, thirty-three 
in January, eleven in Februaiy, four in March, and one each 
in April and May. In the winters of 1852-53, 1864-65, 
1866-67, 1868-69, and 1871-72, or five out of twenty winters, 
not one cold day occui-red. 

The seasons of 1854-55, 1859-60, 1860-61, 1863-64, and 
1865-66, had each one cold day. 

The seasons of 1853-54, 1862-63, and 1869-70, had each 
three cold days. 



CLIMATE. 95 

There were four cold days in 1857-58; five in 1856-57; 
seven each in 1855-56, and 1870-71 ; eight in 1867-68 ; nine 
in 1858-59, and twenty-one in 1861-62. 

§ 70. Sa7i Francisco Fogs. — Dr. H. Gibbons, speaking of 
the mists and fogs at San Francisco, says : 

" It is curious to observe the conflict between the absorbino- 
power of the air and the supplying power of the ocean, in re- 
gard to moisture. Toward noon, when the wind rises, huge 
columns of mist may be seen piled along the coast, three or 
four miles west of the city, and pouring in, like a deluge, upon 
the land. But the air of the land, which is always thirsty, 
drinks it up with astonishing avidity ; so that the impendino- 
wave, though in a current moving from thirty to fifty miles 
an hour, makes slow progress. By the middle of the after- 
noon, it is within a mile or two of the city ; and there it 
stands, like a solid mass of water, several hundred feet in 
depth, rolling and tumbling toward you, (not without o-rand- 
eur and majesty) and threatening to overwhelm you in a few 
seconds. You await its coming, but it comes not ; it even re- 
cedes, to return and recede again. Not until the sun has lost 
his calorific power, does the atmosphere reach the point of 
saturation ; and tlien, toward sunset, or later, everythino- is 
submerged by the vapory flood. In the course of the even- 
ing, the wind falls. During tlie night, the mist is gradually 
dissolved, and disappears from the lower stratum of air, while 
it forms a heavy cloud above. About the middle of the fore- 
noon, the cloud is dispersed by the rays of the sun. The dis- 
persion is rapid, the sky often becoming entirely clear in less 
than half an hour, 

" If it be possible to distinguish between fog and mist — re- 
garding the former as impalpable, and the latter as composed 
of palpable particles of moisture — I may remark that mist be- 
longs only to the summer, and fog to the winter climate of San 
Francisco. There is no mist in winter, and no fog in summer. 
At all seasons, the drying tendency of the atmosphere is ob- 
servable. You notice none of those phenomena which, in 



96 



RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 



other climates, depend on an excess of water in the air, and 
on sudden clianges of temperature. The moisture does not 
condense on your windows, nor on tlie plastered Myalls ; salt 
does not liquify, nor even exhibit the slightest dampness ; and 
the housewife lias no trouble in drying her clothes, pi'ovided it 
should not rain. In fact, the atmosphere of San Francisco, in 
sjiite of sea winds and mists, is a dry atmosphere." 

§ 71. January and July. — The following table shows the 
mean temperature of January and July, and the difterence be- 
tween them in certain prominent points in California, and other 
countries and States. 



San Fraucusco.. 

Monterey 

Santa Barbara. 
Los Ang'eles . . . 

Jnnipa 

San I)iego 

San Luis liey . . 
Sacramento . . . . 

Stockton 

Humboldt Bay 

Sonoma 

St. Helena 

Vallejo 

Antio -h 

Millerton 

Fort Jones 

Fort Reading . . 
Fort Yuma .... 

Cincinnati 

New York , 

New Orleans. . . . 

Naples 

Jerusalem 

Honolulu 

Mexico , 

Funchal 

London 

Dijon 

Bordeaiix 

Mentone 

Marseilles 

Genoa 

Algiers 







DIPPER 


■ LATI- 


.TAN. 


.TUIjY. 










E3SCE. 


TLDE. 


(leg. 


d.'^. 


dog. 


dcg. mill. 


49 


57 


8 


37 48 


S^ 


58 


6 


3636 


54 


71 


17 


34 24 


5- 


75 


23 


34 04 


54 


73 


19 


34 02 


51 


72 


21 


32 41 


52 


70 


18 


33 15 


45 


73 


28 


3«34 


49 


72 


23 


37 56 


40 


5i:> 


18 


40 44 


45 


66 


21 


38 18 


42 


11 


35 


3S 30 


48 


67 


19 


38 05 


43 


70 


27 


3S 03 


47 


90 


43 


37 00 


34 


71 


37 


41 40 


44 


82 


3S 


40 28 


56 


92 


36 


32 43 


30 


74 


44 


39 06 


31 


77 


42 


40 37 


55 


82 


27 


29 57 


46 


76 


30 


40 52 


47 


77 


30 


31 47 


71 


78 


7 


21 16 


52 


65 


13 


19 26 


60 


70 


10 


32 38 


37 


62 


25 


51 29 


33 


70 


37 


47 25 


41 


/J 


32 


44 50 


40 


73 


33 


43 41 


43 


75 


32 


43 17 


4b 


77 


31 


44 24 


52 


75 


23 


36 47 



CLIMATE. 97 

The following table furnishes the figures for a comparison 
of temperature at various points on the Central Pacific Rail- 
road across the State, from the level of tlie sea to the summit 
of the Sierra : 

TOWNS. JANUARY. JUTjY. DIFFERKNCE. EI.EVA'HON. 

deg. deg, deg. feet. 

San Francisco 49 57 8 30 

Livermore 48 68 20 485 

Sacramonto 46 72 24 30 

Aiibiim 45 75 30 1363 

Alta 43 75 32 3612 

Cisco 30 62 32 5939 

Summit 27 60 33 7017 

Truckee 23 53 30 5846 

It will be observed that the winter becomes cooler regular- 
ly, as we ascend the Sierra, and also after we begin to de- 
scend on the eastern side, the January of Truckee being seven 
degrees colder than that of Cisco, at a higher elevation on the 
western slope. The heat of midsummer increases till we reach 
an elevation of 3,000 feet, and then begins to decline. 

January and July are the two typical months, and from 
them we can form a good general idea of the temperature of 
a place. 

"We observe, in the above table, that the January of San 
Francisco is 4° warmer than that of Sacramento, 7° warmer 
than St. Helena, 18° warmer than New York, 12° warmer 
than London, and 3° warmer than Naples. 

San Francisco's July, on the other hand, is 16*^ cooler than 
that of Sacramento, 14° cooler than that of Santa Barbara, 
20° cooler than St. Helena, 33° cooler than Millerton, 20° 
cooler than New York, and 19° cooler than Naples. 

Tlie ditference between the mean temperatures of January 
and July, is 9° greater at Santa Barbara, 20° greater at Sacra- 
mento, 27° greater at St. Helena, 35° greater at Millerton, 34° 
greater at New York, and 22° greater at Naples, than at San 
Francisco. 
7 



98 



RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 



'•^V. 



Honolulu is a fair sample of ti'0]:)ical climate on a small 
island, A'ery equable, but 14° wanner, in its coldest month, 
than San Fi-ancisco is in Jnly. 

§ 72 Monthly Means. — The following table gives the mean 
montlily temperatures for a number of jjlaces in California 
and elsewhere. 



San Francisco . , 

Vallejo 

Sacramento 

Millertou 

Fort Reading. . , 

Fort Yuma 

St. Helena , 

Vacaville 

Meadow Valley , 

Fort Jones 

Grass Valley . . . 

New York 

New Orleans . . . 
Steilacoom .... 

London 

City of Mexico . 

Naples 

Fiinclial 

Honohihi 

Jerusalem 

Canton 

Nagasaki 



-^L 



^\< 



5255 

53 57 
51 59 
566: 

54 59 
6673 

5657 

5562 

41 

4349 

3844 

3S47 

64 70 

4248 

4246 

61 63 

51 56 
6263 
7274 
6054 

62 70 
5061 



555657 
59 67 67 

67 71 73 

68 S3 90 

65 77 82 
76 87 92 

66 70 77 
66 72 74 
61 66 71 
51 61 71 
49 52 63 
57 67 73 
75 Si 82 
55 60 64 
53 58 62 
66 65 65 
64 70 76 
64 67 70 
7677,78 
66 7177 
778183 

69 77180 



m O 



5758 
66164 
73 '66 
83[76 
79j7i 
90 86 
7066: 
7372; 
6857 
68I62 

58i53 
72:66 
82[78 
63157 
6257' 
6464 
76 69' 
7272, 
797s; 
72 72; 
82 80 
83I78 



55|48; 
52144; 
64551 
5451I 



60 

44 
41 
43 

45!34: 
55' 



AVER- 
AGE. 



54 
58 
59 
66 
62 
73 

52 



46 

51 
69 

50 
49 
60 
60 
65 
75 
62 
69 
62 



San Francisco has one of the mildest and most equable 
climates in the world. Many places in the tropics are more 
equable, but with the equability of intense and enervating 
heat. Yallejo is nearly thirty miles from tlie ocean, and has a 
warmer summer and a colder winter than the immediate coast. 
Sacramento has the climate of Naples and Jerusalem through- 
out the year : its summer being tlie same as that of New York, 
but' its winter fourteen degrees warmer. Fort Reading and 
Nagasaki have nearly the same figui-es. Fort Yuma, in the 
Colorado Desert, in latitude 32" 45', is warmer than New 
Orleans in 29° 57'. 



CLIMATE. 99 

The Pacific Railroad, running eastward from Oakland, a 
suburb of San Francisco, passing over the Sierra Nevada, the 
summit of wlncli is reached in 274 miles, enables tlie traveler 
along its line to place himself in any comfortable degree of 
heat or cold, in ordinary summer days. He can find banks of 
snow near Cisco in July. Ten miles west of Oakland is the 
ocean-beach, where a chilling wind blows without ceasing. 
Ooing from the coast, the traveler would gradually get into a 
warmer clime, until, in Stockton, he would find the thermom- 
eter indicating 85°, most of the summer noons ; and pro- 
ceeding up the sides of the Sierra, he would gradually rise 
into greater cold, to the eternal frost on the summit. A branch 
road, running south to Fort Yuma, would enable the traveler 
to enjoy almost as great a variety of temperature in the winter. 

§ 73. Clear Days. — On an average, there are two hundred 
and twenty perfectly clear days in a year, without a cloud, in 
the Sacramento Basin; eighty-five days wherein clouds are 
seen, though in many of them the sun is visible; and sixty, 
rainy. Italy cannot surpass that. New York has scarcely 
lialf so many perfectly clear days. From the first of April 
till the first of November there are, in ordinary seasons, fifteen 
cloudy days; and from the first of November till the first of 
April, half the days are clear. It often happens that weeks 
upon weeks in winter, and months upon months in summer, 
pass without a cloud. Near the ocean shore, coast-clouds or 
fogs are frequently blown up from the sea, but they disappear 
after ten o'clock in the morning. 

§ 74. Sirocco. — Several cases are on record, of a sirocco, 
or burning-hot wind, visiting the coast. One was felt at the 
town of Santa Barbara, on the 17th of June, 1859. The 
Gazette newspaper of that place, published six days after- 
ward, said : 

" I'liday, 17th June, will be long remembered by tlie in- 
habitants of Santa Barbara, from the burning, blasting heat 
experienced that day, and the effects thereof Indeed, it is 



100 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

said that, for the space of thirty years, nothing in comparison 
Las been felt in this country, and, we doubt, in any otiier. 
The sun rose like a ball of fire on that day ; but though quite 
warm, no inconvenience was caused thereby until two o'clock 
p. M., when suddenly a blast of heated air swept through our 
streets, followed quickly by others; and shortly afterward 
the atmosphere became so intensely heated, that no human 
being could withstand its force : all sought their dwellings, 
and had to shut doors and windows, and remain for hours con- 
fined to their houses. The effect of such intense and unparal- 
leled heat was demonstrated by tlie death of calves, rabbits, 
birds, etc. The trees were all blasted ; and the fruit, such as 
pears and apples, literally roasted on the trees ere they fell to 
the ground, and the same as if they had been cast on live 
coals. But, strange to say, they were only burned on one side, 
the direction whence came'the wind. All kinds of metal became 
so heated, that for hours nothing of the kind could be touched 
with the naked hands. The thermometer rose to nearly fever- 
heat — in the shade. Near an open door, and during the prev- 
alence of this properly-called sirocco, the streets were filled 
with imi^enetrable clouds of fine dust, or pulverized clay. 
Speculation lias been rife since to ascertain the cause of such 
a terrible phenomenon ; but, tliough we have heard of many 
plausible theories thereon, we have not been fully con- 
vinced yet ; however that miglit be, we see its terrible eflects 
all around us, in blighted trees, ruined gardens, blasted fruit, 
and almost a general destruction of the vegetable kingdom 
here." 

A correspondent of a San Francisco paper wrote thus : "At 
one o'clock in the afternoon of the 17th instant, a burning 
wind came upon us from the northwest, and smote us with 
terror. At two o'clock, the thermometer exposed to this 
wind rose to 133° of Fahrenheit ; at five o'clock, it had fallen 
to 122®; and at seven o'clock, it stood at 77°, where it had 
been in the morniug. During the whole time of this visita- 



CLIMATE. 101 

tion, every one stayed in the house, taking good care to keep 
dooi's and windows closed. A tisherman who was out at sea, 
came back with his arms all bUstered. Many calves, rabbits, 
and birds, died of siiftocation. The greatest losses are among 
the vegetables. The fruit-trees are all burned ; the pears and 
apples liave been literally cooked." 

A similar occurrence of a hot wind, six days later, in Stan- 
islaus County, was thus described by a correspondent of the 
Stockton Argus: 

" The theiTuometer was IIS'^ in the shade. The wind was 
avoided, as it was heated so, that it felt as if actually burning 
the flesh — as if rushing from a hot oven. In one team of ten 
horses, three fell in the road, from heat ; two died, but the 
other recovered by pouring sweet oil in its throat. The ani- 
mal's throat was closed, so that it could not drink, when the 
oil was used so as to soften the throat, and open it, that it 
could swallow water, when it recovered. The two that died, 
expired before such aid could be used with them. At Burton's 
public house, at Loving's Ferry, birds flew into the bar-room, 
to the pitcher, to get water, so tame were they made by the 
thirst caused by extreme heat. Birds were seen to fall dead 
off" the limbs of trees, in the middle of the day, from the heat, 
as if they were shot. The wind was of that burning heat, 
never before witnessed by the settlers there since their arrival 
in the State." 

§ 75. Interior Basins. — The climate of the Sacramento-San 
Joaquin Basin differs from that of San Francisco in having no 
fogs, faint sea-breezes, winters four degrees colder, and sum- 
mers from sixteen to twenty degrees warmer. The greater 
heat of summer is owing to the want of ocean winds and fogs ; 
the greater cold of winter is caused by the distance from the 
Pacific, and the proximity of the snow-covered Sierra Nevada. 
While, at San Francisco, the thermometer usually stands at 
70° at mid-day, it is at 86° in Sacramento city at the same 
moment ; and these sixteen degrees make a vast ditference, for 



102 ■ RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

they cliauge comfort into oppression. And Sacramento city, 
lying near the great gap in the Coast Mountains, is cooler in? 
summer tlian cither end of the basin ; for the upper portions 
of botli tlie Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys, nearly every 
summer, see days when the thermometer stands at over 100'' 
in the shade. The County Assessor of Fresno County stated, 
in his annual report for 1857, that the mean tem])erature at 
Millerton, during the three summer months, was lOC^. 

In the Sierra Nevada, the heat of the sumnrer at mid-day 
is about the same as in the Sacramento Valley ; but the win- 
ter is cold, and the amount of rain greater in proportion to- thfi 
altitude above the sea. In jjlaces tliree tliousand feet above 
the ocean-level, ice forms five and six inches thick, and snow, 
deep enougli for sleighing, lies several weeks nearly every win- 
ter. In towns six thousand feet above the sea, the snow falls 
from five to ten feet deep, and covers the ground four or five 
months in the year. 

In the Enclosed Basin, the wintei"s are cold and the summer 
days very hot ; but tliere too the nights are always cool. 

The Colorado Desert has exceedingly hot summer days and 
warm wintei-s, but occasional frosts in the spring and fall, as 
well as in the winter. 

In the Klamath Basin, the winters are very cold, and frosts 
occur nearly every mouth in the year. 

§ 76. Ua'm. — Nearly all the i-aiu in California falls be- 
tween the first of November and the first of June — the period 
called the " rainy season," as contradistinguished from tlie 
" dry season," which occupies the remainder of the year. Tliose 
names, however, when applied to any special season, do not 
signify an uncliangeable set of months, but rather the term 
during which the rain falls or the dry weather lasts. Thus, we 
say that the rainy season of 1858-59 began in October, be- 
cause in that month the first heavy rains fell ; the rainy sea- 
son of 1870-71 did not begin until December ; the dry season 
of 18G5 began in March ; that of 1860 not till June ; and so 



CLIMATE. 



103 



forth. The rainy season is so called, not because the rain falls 
then continnously, but because it does not fall at any other 
time. There are occasional showers in June, July, August, 
and September, but they are rare and light. 

The following table gives the average amount of rain, in 
inches, which falls during the four seasons of spring, summer, 
autumn, and winter, at various places in California, as com- 
pared with the amount in certain other places. 



PLACES. 


SPRING. 


SUMMER. 


AUTUMN. 


WINTER. 


YEAR. 


San Francisco 

Sacramento 


6.64 

7.01 

11.30 

13-51 

9-57 

0.27 

2.74 

16.43 

12. II 

11.69 

11.29 

12.86 

7.27 

5-53 
6.19 


0.13 

0.00 

0-39 
1. 18 
0.02 
1.30 

0-55 

4.00 

10.28 

11.64 

17.28 

14.09 

3-39 

5-92 

9.78 


3-31 
2.61 
4.89 
4.87 
2.80 
0.86 
1.24 
21.77 

11-93 
9-93 
9.62 
8.71 

10.89 
6.51 

10.81 


13-33 
12. II 
12.44 
15-03 

9-79 
0.72 
5.90 

44-15 
10.93 
10.39 
12.71 
6.29 

9-31 
4.68 

7-32 


23.41 
21.73 
29.02 

34-56 
22.18 

3-15 
10.43 

86.35 : 

45-25 
43-65 
50.90 

41-95 
30.86 
22.64 
34-10 


Fort Readinf? 

Fort Humboldt 

Fort Miller 


Fort Yvima 

San Diego 


Astoria 

Portland, Maine 

New York City 

New Orleans 

St. Louis 


Rome 


Paris 


Liverpool 







From this table it appears that the amount of rain is about 
one-half as great in San Francisco as in those States east 
of the Mississippi. Here all the rain falls in the winter and 
spring ; there the amounts are nearly the same in the four sea- 
sons. They have as much rain in their summer and autumn 
as we in our winter and spring. We have less rain than Liv- 
erpool and Rome, and about the same amount as Paris. 

§ 77. Railroad Rain Table. — The following table gives 
the rainfall at' various points on the line of the Pacific Rail- 
road, crossing the State near its middle from west to east, with 
the elevations in feet and the distances by rail in miles from 
San Francisco. 



104 



KESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 



San Francisco 

Oakland 

Niles 

Livermore . . 

Ellis 

Stockton .... 
Sacramento . . 

Rocklin 

Auburn 

Colfax 

Alta 

Cisco 

Summit 

Truckee 

Boca 

Reno 



1870-71. 


1872-73. 


DISTANCE. 


12.50 


10. 





11.60 




6 


7-30 




29 


5.90 




47 


3.80 




69 


4-75 


12.5 


91 


7.85 


13-5 


138 


10.00 




160 


17-45 


25- 


174 


30.90 


33- 


192 


27-95 




206 


32-95 


52- 


230 


34-45 




243 


17.00 


25. 


257 


10.50 


9- 


264 


2.30 




293 



ELEVATION. 



15 
15 
B7 
4S5 
76 

23 

30 

249 

1363 

2421 
3612 

5939 
7017 

5S46 
5533 
4507 



Tlie amount of the rainfall increases at the rate of about an 
inch for one hundred feet of elevation as we ascend the Sierra 
Nevada from the west, and decreases still more rapidly as we 
descend on the other side. Reno, fifty miles from the summit, 
is in the State of Nevada, but its figures indicate the rainfall 
of many places in California, at an equal distance from the 
summit on the same side. 

Tlie average annual rainfall is about 34 inches at Crescent 
City, 32 at Humboldt Bay, 23 at San Francisco, 18 at Monte- 
rey, 14 at Santa Barbara, 12 at Los Angeles, and 10 at San 
Diego, making a difference of 24 inches in a distance of less 
than ten degrees, or a little more than two inches to the de- 
gree. 

§ 78. State Rains for twenty-three years. — Tlie following 
table shows the annual rainfall as recorded at San Francisco and 
Sacramento since 1849, and at Stockton, Los Angeles, Santa 
Barbara, Nevada, and Napa, for a few years. The observations 
at San Francisco are by different observers, the figures given 
by Dr. Gibbons being generally less than those by Mr. Tennent. 
The ditierence in one year was nine inches. Both are careful 



CLIMATE. 



105 



and conscientious observers, but there is probably a difference 
in the ^situations of their causes. 



1849-50 
1850-51 
1S51-52 
1852-53 
1853-54 
1854-55 
1855-56 

1856-57 
1857-58 
1858-59 
1859-60 
1860-61 
1861-62 
1862-63 
1863-64 
1864-65 
1865-66 
1866-67 
1867-68 
1868-69 
1869-70 
1870-71 
1871-72 
1872-73 



SAN FRANCISCO. 



Tennent. Gibbons 



33 

7 

18 

35 
23 
23 
21 

19 
21 
22 

19 

49 
13 
10 

24 
22 

34 
38 
21 

19 
14 
34 

17 



7 
18 

33 
23 

24 

21 
20 

19 
20 

17 

IS 

38 
15 

8 



40 
21 
20 
13 
33 



27 
17 
54 
59 
81 

115 
56 
53 

45 
70 



26 
30 
19 
15 
10 

30 



The observations for San Francisco in the first column were 
taken by Thomas Tennent, and in the second by Dr. Henry 
Gibbons ; those for Sacramento, by Dr. Thomas Logan ; for 
Stockton, by Dr. G. Shurtleff"; for Napa, by W. A. Trubody ; 
for Santa Barbara, by Dr. J. B. Shaw. 

The rainfall at Shasta in 1871-72, was 9G inches ; at Mur- 
phys, in 1870-71, 17 inches ; at San Luis Obispo, 11.83 inches 
in 1869-70, and 12.97 inches in 1870-71 ; at Modesto, in 
1870-71, 2.25 inches; at Chowchilla, in 1870-71,5 inches; 



106 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

at Marysville, iii 1870-71, 6.60 inches ; at Chico, iu 1870-71, 
17.60 inches; at Sesma, in 1870-71, 13,13 inches ; at Placer- 
ville, in 1861-62, 86, and in 1862-63, 26 inches ; at South 
Yuba Reservoir, in 1861-62, 109 inclies ; and at Iloopa Val- 
ley, in 1861-62, 129 inches. 

§79. 3Ionthhj Table, lM^-\^ld. The following table of 
the rain, month by month, from July, 1849, to June, 1873, is 
derived from the observations kept by Thomas Teuneut : 



CLIMATE. 



107 





1849. 


1850. 


1851. 


1852. 


1853. 


1854. 


1855. 




^ 








>% 




t^ 




>> 








>> 




































•■-• 




'^ 




•^ 




'^ 




^ 




;^ 




'^ 






3 


•r 


s 


'f 


a 


T 


a 


T. 


a 


T( 


a 


!/) 


^ 


X 






































s 


a 




a 


a 


cS 






a 










o* 


« 


o- 


M 


(y 


« 


(y 


tt 


(y 


Q 


<y 


« 


<y 


« 


Jnly 

August 


















.04 


1 


.01 


1 






SeiJtember. . 






.33 


4 


1.03 


1 






.46 


4 


.15 


3 






October .... 


;i.i4 


3 






.21 


2 


.80 


1 


.12 


■_) 


2.41 


9 






November . . 


8.60 


8 


.92 


7 


2.12 


5 


5.31 


12 


2.28 


12 


.:« 


2 


.67 


7 


December . . 


6.20 


12 


1.05 


4 


7.10 


14 


13.20 


20 


2.32 


11 


.81 


3 


5.76 


13 




1850. 


1851. 


1852. 


1853. 


1854. 


1855 


1856. 


January 


rf.34 


15 


.72 


5 


.58 


4 


3.92 


11 


3.88 


10 


3.67 


11 


9.40 


13 


February . . . 


1.77 





.54 


4 


.14 


4 


1.42 


5 


8.04 


16 


4.77 


10 


.50 


4 


March 


i.m 


7 


1.94 


9 


6.68 


14 


4.86 


6 


3.51 


11 


4.64 


12 


1 . 60 


5 


April 


.40 


3 


1.23 


8 


.26 


3 


5.37 


8 


3.12 


9 


5.00 


10 


2.94 


6 


May 






.67 


3 


.32 


1 


.38 


7 


.02 


1 


1.88 


6 


.76 


3 


June 


















.08 


' 






.03 


1 




33.10 


53 


7.40 


39 


18.44 


48 


35.26 


70 


23.87 


79 


23.68 


67 


21.66 


54 



1856. 



.02 

.07 

.45 

2.79 

3.75 : 



1857. 



2.45 
8.59 
1.62 

.02 
.12 

19.811 



July . . 
August . . . 
September 
October . . 
November 
December 



January . 
February 
March .. 

April 

May 

Juue 



1857. 


1858. 


1859. 


1860. 


1861. 


1862 


1863. 






.05 









.21 


1 














.05 


2 


.16 


2 


.02 
.03 


1 

1 






.02 


1 






.03 


1 


.93 


3 


2.74 


4 


.05 


1 


.91 


12 






.40 









3.01 


11 


.69 


5 


7.28 


13 


.58 


3 


4.10 


12 


.15 


3 


2 . 55 


.T 


4.14 


8 


6.14 


14 


1.57 


6 


6.16 


21 


9.54 


10 


2.35 


9 


1.80 


8 


1858. 


1859. 


1860. 


1861. 


1862. 


1863 


1864. 


4.36 


8 


1.28 


4 


1.64 


8 


2.47 


8 


24.36 


18 


3.63 


9 


1.83 


5 


1.83 


8 


6.32 


18 


1.60 


7 


3.72 


8 


7.53 


10 


3.19 


10 






5 . 55 


8 


3.02 


11 


3.99 


13 


4 08 


8 


2.20 


11 


2.06 


8 


1.52 


9 


1.55 


4 


.27 


4 


3.14 


8 


.51 


4 


.73 


9 


1.61 


9 


l.,57 


4 


.34 


3 


1.55 


4 


2.86 


11 


1.00 


3 


.74 


5 


.23 


2 


.78 


5 


.05 


1 






.09 


2 


.08 


2 


.05 


1 










21.88 


56 


22.22 


68 


22.27 


73 


19.72 


70 


49.27 


83 


13.62 


52 


10.08 


37 



1864. 



.21 
.01 
.13 

6.68 
8.91 



1865. 



5.14 
1.34 



.94 
.63 



July .. 
August . . . 
SeiJtember 
October. . . 
November 
December 



Januaiy . . 
February . 
March ... 

April 

May 

June 



186 


5. 


186 


3 


186' 


1. 


186 


3. 


186 


9. 


1S7 


3. 


187 


1. 


.24 


., 


.11 


2 


.04 


1 






.12 


1 


.03 


1 


.03 


.-, 


.26 


4 






.20 


1 


.15 


3 


1.29 


2 






.11 


2 


4.19 


10 


3.35 


12 


3.41 


6 


1.18 


5 


1.19 


5 


.43 


4 


3.72 


9 


.58 


8 


15.16 


18 


10.69 


18 


4.34 


11 


4.31 


7 


3.38 


8 


16.74 


14 


1866. 


1867. 


1868. 


1869. 


1870. 


1871. 


1872. 


10. 8« 


16 


5.16 


15 


9.50 


17 


6.33 


14 


3.89 


() 


3.07 


7 


4.22| 9 


2.12 


9 


7.20 


9 


6.13 


9 


3.90 


5 


4.78 


9 


3.76 


10 


6.97 


18 


3.04 


12 


1.58 


7 


0.30 


12 


3.14 


12 


2.00 


8 


1.29 


8 


1.64 


9 


.12 


1 


2.36 


8 


2.31 


9 


2.19 


5 


■[.SA 


4 


1.93 


5 


1.10 


6 


1.46 


6 






.03 


2 


.08 


2 


.20 


2 


.21 


3 


.10 


2 


.04 


1 
09 




71 


.23 


3 
78 


.02 
21.35 


1 

58 




47 




46 


.02 


2 
73 


22.93 


34.92 


38.84 


19.31 


14.10 


34.71 



1873. 



2 17 

4.24 

.78 

.44 



108 



RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 



Mr. Tennent is a cai-eful observer, but I think tlie figures 
for January, 1862, must be erroneous, due jDerhaps, to some 
exceptional influences near his rain gauge; and I fancy the 
general fall in the city was not more than fifteen inches in that 
month. Dr. Gibbons reports 38 inches for the seasons 1861 
and 1862, or eleven inches less than Mr. Tennent, and I am 
more disposed to accept the smaller figures. 

The subjoined table is compiled from Mr. Tenuent's record : 





INCHES RAINFALL. 


COMPARISON OF MONTHS 


RAINY n.KXS. 












^ 


^ 1 ■ 




,• 


<- 


fl, 


MONTH. 












:j 


u . a ,: 




=3 


? ^ 


i> 




2 


CD 




a 
'S 

o 


-3 " 


tl 




o 




u a 






<! 


w 


I-] 


IZi 


►J 


O 


'^ H 


9 


< 
10 


;5 

n 


12 


Column . . . 


1 


2 


3 


4 


5 


6 


7 


8 


July 


0.01 
0.02 


0.21 
0.21 


0.00 
0.00 


21 
18 


21 
19 


3 

4 


21 
18 


24 
22 


3 
10 


0.1 
0.4 


2 
3 


21 
18 


August 


September 


0.20 


1.03 


0.00 


8 


20 


1 


16 


17 


28 


1.1 


4 


16 


October 


0.58 


3.14 


0.00 


6 


17 


6 


15 


21 


60 


2.5 


12 


15 


November. . . . 


2.87 


8.66 


0.15 





19 


4 


9 


13 


182 


7.5 


1.-) 


13 


December 


6.29 


16.71 


0.58 





19 


5 


7 


12 


285 


11.8 


21 


11 


January 


5.10 


24.36 


0.58 





16 


5 


7 


12 


240 


10. 


18 


14 


February 


3.80 


8.59 


0.00 


1 


13 


7 


9 


16 


218 


90 


18 


11 


March 


3.08 
1.69 
0.59 
0.05 


6.68 
5.37 
2.86 
0.12 


0.74 
0.00 
0.00 
0.00 



1 
3 
13 


14 
15 
14 

18 


5 
5 
5 

5 


4 
8 
11 
13 


9 
13 
16 

18 


214 

130 

81 

17 


8 9 
5.4 
3 3 
0.7 


14 

10 

11 

3 


14 
13 
18 
13 























The first column shows the annual rainfall of each month 
for the last twenty years. 

The second column shows the greatest, and the third the 
smallest, amount that has fallen in the month in any year since 
1849. 

The fourth shows the number of years out of twenty -four, 
in which the montli lias brought no rain. 

The fifth shows the number of years in which the month 
has brought less than the average, wliich is brought up by 
large figures at intervals. The purpose of this and the next 
three columns, is to show the irregularity of tlie seasons. 

The sixtli column shows the number of years in which the 
several months brought fifty per cent., or miore than the aver- 



CLIMATE. 109 

age. The average of December is 6.29 inches ; an addition of 
fifty per cent, to that makes 9.44. We find that in five out 
of the twenty-four years, December gives fifty per cent, 
more tlian the average, and the next season sliows tliat in seven 
seasons it brought at least fifty per cent less than the average, 
or less than 3.15 inches. 

The eighth column shows the number of seasons in which 
the several months have brought either fifty per cent, more or 
fifty per cent, less than the average, and as either is an ex- 
treme, I find that most of the seasons are extreme in their 
character. 

The ninth column shows the total number of rainy days in 
twenty-four seasons, from July 1st, 1849, to June oOth, 1873. 

The tenth column shows the average, and the eleventh the 
greatest number of rainy days in each month. 

The twelftli shows the number of months in twenty-four 
years in which the number of rainy days has been under the 
average. 

§ 80. Drought and Flood. — Floods usiially come with more 
than thirty inches of rain, and droughts with less than sixteen 
at Sacramento, the damage being dependent, to a certain ex- 
tent, upon the distribution, as well as upon the amount, of the 
rain. Thus, in a very wet season, if the moisture comes in nearly 
equal quantities in eack one of the sixteen or twenty weeks, 
the streams do not rise so high as if ten or fifteen inches came 
in one month. The fiood seasons have been 1849-50, 1852-53, 
1861-62, and 1867-68, or four in twenty-five years. 

The years of drought have been 1851, 1856, 1857, 1861, 
1863, 1864, 1870, and 1871, or eiglit in twenty-five years. 
There are two droughts to one fiood, and every other year, on 
an average, brings either a drought or a flood. 

§ 81. Dryness of Air. — The small amount of rain during 
the winter, the entire want of it during the summer, the 
warmth of the sun, and the great number of cloudless days, 
render the climate a very dry one. As one consequence or 



110 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

accompaniment of our dry climate and clear sky, it may be 
worth while to observe tliat near the ocean the clouds are rare- 
ly picturesque or sublimely beautiful. The magnificent sun- 
sets, where the god of light goes down amid curtains of gold 
and crimson — those high-piled banks of clouds which adorn 
the heavens before and after thunder-showers, in the Mississippi 
Valley — are rarely seen near the coast. 

Dew is rare or sliglit over a great part of tlie State. 
During tlie summer and autumn, many of the rivers sink in 
the sand soon after leaving the mountains in which they rise ; 
the earth is dry, and baked hard to a depth of many inches or 
even feet ; the grass and herbage, except near springs or on 
swampy land, are dried n^, and as brown as the soil on which 
they grew. 

It has been said that very hot days are less oppressive in 
California than equal heat in the Eastern States, because the 
cool nights serve to invigorate the system, and the extreme 
dryness of the climate favors the evaporation of sweat, and 
thus keeps the body cooler than in districts where the earth is 
always moist. Evaporation is so rapid that a beefsteak hung 
up in the air will dry before it can commence to putrefy. A 
dead rat thrown into the street, where its body is crushed by 
wagon-wheels so that its viscera are exposed to the air, will 
"dry up," and its stiff hide and meat will lie during a whole 
summer in a mummy-like condition. In many places, steel 
may be exposed to the night air for weeks without getting a 
touch of rust. 

It is common to ascribe the effects of the dryness of the at- 
mosphere to the " purity" of the air ; but it is rather the ab- 
sence of moisture. I know no reason for supposing that, apart 
from its dryness, the air in California is purer than in any 
other ])art of tlie continent. It may be, however, tliat the con- 
stant decom])osition of animal and vegetable matter lying on 
wet ground, imder a hot sun, causes the air in other States to 
be filled with such gases as are not set free to an equal extent 
here. 



CLIMATE. Ill 

In May and June all California " dries up " — tlie rivers, the 
brooks, the springs, the ditches, the vegetation — and with 
them many of the resources of the country. 

§ 82. Length of Days. — The shortest day in the year, the 
20th of December, measures nine hours and four minutes be- 
tween sunrise and sunset at Crescent City, and ten hours at 
San Diego ; while the longest day, the 20th of June, measures 
fifteen hours and seventeen minutes on the southern border, 
and fourteen hours and nineteen minutes on the northern bor- 
der of the State — or, measuring from the beginning of twi- 
light in the morning to the end of twilight at night, the day 
measures nineteen hours and forty-seven minutes on the Siski- 
you Mountains, and seventeen hours and forty-three minutes 
at Fort Yuma. 

§ 83. l^hiinder-Storms. — Thunder-storms are very rare in 
California. Lightning is not seen more than three or four 
times a year at San Francisco, and then it is never neai*. 
Thunder is still more rare. Indeed, many persons have been 
here for years, without observing either. I have never seen a 
brilliant Hash of lightning, and have heard but one loud clap 
of thunder in the State. Thunder-storms are sometimes wit- 
nessed high up in the mountains, and in the great Basin; very 
rarely in any of the low land of the State. In May, 18G0, a 
house in Sonora was struck by lightning ; and in P"'ebruary, 
18G1, three vessels in Humboldt Bay were struck in the same 
manner : and, thoiigh there were persons in the house and on 
all the vessels, no serious injury was done to either 2)erson or 
property in any case. On the 25th of May, 1860, a China- 
man was killed by lightning near the Lexington House, on the 
Coloma road, in Sacramento County ; and that is, I think, the 
only death by electricity in California on record. 

The weather never has that peculiar condition which iso- 
lates everybody electrically, and then fills them with electric- 
ity. In New York, on a dry winter evening, a man dressed 
in woolen and shod in woolen slippers, after sliding along on 



112 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

the carpet a few steps, will accumulate so mncli electricity, 
lliat when lie thrusts his linger at another person, a visible spark 
will tly off, and he can light gas with it ! But this amusing 
experiment, not uncommon in the Eastern States, never has 
been successful here. 

§ 84. Hail. — Hail is a rarity ; and instead of falling in 
July and August, as is usual in the Eastern States and Europe, 
it is seen in California only between February and May. On 
the 10th of May, 1856, a storm of hail-stones, some of them 
weighing twelve pounds each, visited a small district at Butte 
Creek, in Shasta County. It has several times happened that 
hail-stones more than an inch in diameter liave fiillen in the 
Sacramento Valley. 

The Aurora BoreoXis is seldom seen in California, perhaps 
not more than a dozen times within the last twenty years. 
The aurora of the 28th of August, 1859, seen over a great 
part of the world, was plainly visible in this State. 

§ 85. Sand- Storms. — In the Colorado Desert, and in some 
other districts in the southern part of the State, sand-storms, 
similar to the simoons of Africa, but not so dangerous, occa- 
sionally occur. The sand, which forms the greater portion of 
the soil, unprotected by sod, vegetation, or moisture, is swept 
away in dense clouds by every high wind, and carried many 
miles, a terror to man and beast. The storm stops the trav- 
eler, because he dare not open his eyes to the little flinty par- 
ticles ; nor can he eat, for the dust covers his food and tills his 
mouth; and even in the most tightly-built houses the sand 
penetrates and fills the air. 

A newspaper correspondent speaks thus of a Colorado sand- 
storm : 

" Should the traveler happen to encounter a sand-storm, 
however, he may not get along so smoothly. A huge, black 
cloud, rising from the western horizon, warns him of its ap- 
proach. Rapidly it spreads over the sky, darkens the sun, 
and the fine particles of sand are swept before the gale in a 



CLIMATE. 113 

dense and suffocating cloud ; even the larger gravel and peb- 
bles are sometimes lifted from the plain and carried like hail 
before the force of the blast. The horses are bUuded, para- 
lyzed with fear, and no urging can induce them to go for- 
ward. Were it otliermse, to go on would be folly ; the road 
and sun are hid from view ; no landmarks by which to be 
guided — safety bids you remain. The traces are unhitched, 
and tlie horses tethered to the wagon ; the only course is to 
securely fasten down the sides to the wagon-top, and wait 
witli what patience one can command until the storm has 
passed, which will be, doubtless, in from six to ten hours. 

''Once the stage encountered a sand-storm, while within 
three hundred yards of a station ; the horses could not be in- 
duced to move, and there was no remedy but to stay by them 
till the gale had spent its force, though the station was even 
in sight. 

" I have found such a storm sufficiently disagreeable while 
housed by the river-side, the line sand penetrating everywhere, 
and have no ambition to encounter one upon the central des- 
ert. Luckily, they are not very common in the severest 
aspect ; in summer, quite rare." 



114 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 



CHAPTER IV. 

SALUBRITY. 

§ 86. Healthy Chroioth. — In the preceding cliapter, proof 
was furnished that the climate of the coast of California is 
more equable, and more favorable to human growth and com- 
fort, than that of Italy, Greece, or Palestine, countries 
which have had the repute from remote times, of having the 
most auspicious skies in the old world. In the chapter on 
agriculture and botany, we shall see that the domestic animals 
and cultivated plants grow with a rapidity, and the fruit 
trees, cereals, and kitchen vegetables, bear witli a fecundity, 
unsurpassed and probably unequaled in any otlier part of the 
world. In my researches I have not been able to learn of 
crops elsewhere so large as many recorded in California. 

The Si^anish Californians, before the American conquest, had 
remarkably large families, and were long-lived beyond ex- 
ample. In no place known to me were there so many centen- 
arians relatively. Prominent among the early settlers were 
Ignacio Vallejo, Joaquin Carrillo, Jose Noriega, Jose Ai- 
giiello, Jose Maria Pico, Francisco Sepulveda, Jose Maria 
Ortega, and Juan Bandini. These men had eleven children 
each on an average, the largest number in one family being 
thirteen and the smallest nine. Two children of Ignacio Val- 
lejo had each a dozen, and one grandchild has had a dozen 
children. Jose Antonio Castro had twentj'-five. It was a 
common event for persons to have several hundred living de- 
scendants. Juana Cota had five hundred, and Senora Domin- 



SALUBRITY. 



115 



gnez, wlio planted the big vine at Montecito, in Santa Barbara 
County, had tliree hundred. Such cases may be found in every 
country, but in no such large proportion elsewhere. The 
records of the Mission and parish church of Santa Barbara, 
from 1782 till 1847, a period of 65 years, show that, in that 
period, the births were 1,781, the deaths 441, and the mar- 
riages 298. These figures indicate six births on an average 
to one marriage, a ratio not to be equaled elsewhere. 

Our later statistics are defective. The majority of the pop- 
ulation are not natives of the country, and many invalids have 
come from the Atlantic side, so that the State may be regarded 
as a sanitarium, and on that account it has more deaths than 
properly belong to it. 

According to the Federal census report, the number of 
deaths in the year ending June 1st, 1870, was 9,025 or 16 per 
tljousand ; a number which is moderate in itself, yet is above 
the average for the whole Union, which has only 12. The 
only States above California are Louisiana, 20, Massachusetts, 
17, and Missouri, 16. The average mortality among civilized 
nations i*anges from 20 to 40 per thousand, and we may safely 
assume that the report that eighteen States have less than 12 
deaths to the thousand annually, is grossly erroneous. The 
Health Report of New York City gives the following figures 
of the deaths per thousand in certain prominent cities of 
Europe and the United States. 



Naples 39 

Berlin 38 

Milan , 38 

Florence 37 

Vienna 35 

Liverpool 35 

Turin 33 

Glasgow 32 

Manchester 31 

Rome 30 

Genoa 29 

Edinburgh 26 

Dublin 26 

London 24 



Vicksburg 41 

Troy 38 

Mobile 34 

Charleston 31 

Savannah 30 

New Orleans 29 

New York 28 

Baltimore 26 

Boston 23 

Chicago 23 

Philadelphia 22 

San Francisco 21 

Cleveland 19 

St. Louis 16 



116 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

The advantages of our climate for salubrity consist mainly 
in tLe dryness of the atmosphere, and the equability and mild- 
ness of the temperature. Moisture combined witli heat causes 
fevers and pneumonia ; combined with cold it brings on con- 
sumption. Malarial diseases and affections of the respiratory 
organs, together, carry off a large part of our race, and no- 
where can the iiercentage of loss by them be brought to a 
lower figure than in this State. In Massachusetts, 29 out of 
100 deaths are caused by diseases of the respiratory organs ; in 
Maine 27, in London 26, in Cuba 25, and in California 30 ; 
but of these, few caught the disease in tliis State. All the au- 
thorities agree, that conditions like those here prevalent are 
the best for the prevention and cure of consumption. Blodgett, 
in his work on climatology, expressed the opinion that not 
more than four per cent, of the natives of California will die 
of consumption ; and although he wrote nearly twenty years 
ago, nothing has since occurred to show that he Avas wrong. 

§ 87. Infant Mortality. — An article published in the St 
Paul's Medical Journal, in 1872, says, that of 365,508 deaths 
reported by the Board of Health of New York city, from 1804 
to 1853, 184,534, or more than 50 percent., were children un- 
der five years of age. The same percentage is observed in the 
deaths of the same city in 1866, 1867, and 1869 ; in Chicago, 
from 1843 to 1869, the proportion Avas 51 per cent. ; in Phila- 
delphia, from 1858 to 1870, 45 per cent.; and in Baltimore, in 
1860, 1861, 1862, 1865, and 1866, 47 per cent. Some of this 
mortality is to be charged, undoubtedly, to constitutional 
weakness, inherited from weak, diseased, dissipated, ill-fed, or 
unhappy parents ; but far more is due to bad food, insufficient 
care, defective ventilation, scanty clothing, and exposure to 
wet and cold. The poor farmer who should lose half his 
sheep, pigs, or calves, under ordinary circumstances, would be 
regarded as grossly ignorant, or careless ; but the rich inhabit- 
ants of the cities generally lose about half their children by 
death before maturity. 



SALUBRITY. 117 

According to the mortality statistics of the Federal Census, 
492,263 deaths occurred in the United States, in the year end- 
ing June 1st, 1870, and of those 203,213, or 40 per cent., were 
infents (under five years old). According to the same author- 
ity, the total deaths, and the infants' deaths, in California in 
the same period, were 9,025 and 3,450 respectively, giving a 
ratio of 37 i^er cent. These figures are less favorable to Cali- 
fornia than those given in the report of the State Board of 
Health, according to which, in twenty-two places — including 
San Francisco, Sacramento, San Jose, Oakland, Marysville, 
Stockton, Petaluma, Los Angeles, Napa, and nearly all the 
larger towns of California — the total number of deaths in the 
year ending Jime 30th, 1871, was 4,831, and of these 1,614 
were children under five years of age, or thirty -three per cent. ; 
while in San Francisco alone, the j)roportiou was thirty-four 
per cent. This imj^lies that, of ten children who die in East- 
ei'n cities, three might be saved by keeping them in San Fran- 
cisco for their first four summers. After they reach the age of 
five, the danger rapidly decreases for twenty years. The num- 
ber of tliose who die in any one year under five, exceeds that 
of those who die between the ages of five and thirty. 
The writer of the article above referred to, says : 
" A gi-eat part of this mortality, which I believe to be avoid- 
able, occurs in what is known as the ' heated term,' (a period 
of special dread to parents with young children) comprising 
the months of June, July, August, and September. When- 
ever the thermometer rises and remains for any considerable 
length of time above 80 degrees, derangements of digestion 
among infants living in such an atmosphere are very liable to 
occur. Milk, and all animal substances used for food, rapidly 
deteriorate in quality in regions of higli temperature, and, 
unless great care is taken, become unfit diet for infants. The 
infantile stomach is particularly susceptible, and the child, by 
its sufiering, will speedily show tlie bad eflects of the least de- 
parture from pure, fresh, and wholesome food or water. Per- 



118 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

sisteiice in the itse of food tliat has caused disordered digestion 
is sho\\ai to develop cholera infantum, or some other grave form 
of disease. High temperature is everywhere recognized as one 
of the chief j^rovoking causes of diseases of the stomach and 
bowels, particularly among children under two years of age, 
whether nursed at the breast or artificially fed. These dis- 
eases in their inception are frequently mere distiirbances of 
digestion caused by lieat, or the deterioration of food, or the 
unwholesomeness of diet. According to the weekly mortuary 
reports of our cities, the diseases of this class alone are referred 
to as the cause of over twenty-five per cent, of all deaths oc- 
curring during the summer months ; and the mortality among 
children under five years alone increases the death rate in 
cities from one-fourth to one-half over the other months of the 
year. As heat seems to be the constant attendant, if not the 
chief cause, of the ' summer complaints ' of children, and 
consequent great mortality among them, it is obviously an 
element to be taken into special account, and, therefore, de- 
sirable to provide for those who are actually sick, quiet apart- 
ments or homes, where they can have free ventilation and pure 
air of a moderate temperature." 

The time will probably come when a large number of in- 
fants will be sent to spend their early years away from the 
hot and malarious districts where their parents are compelled 
by imperious business to live ; and no better place than the 
Coast district of California can be found for the rearing of 
children, A large part of the mortality of infants in the East- 
ern States is caused by scarlet fever and cholera infantum. 
These two diseases carried ofi" respectively 5,645, or ten per 
cent,, and 2,683, or four per cent,, out of a total of 52,659 in 
Pennsylvania, and 479, or five per cent., and 227, or two and a 
half per cent. , in California, in the mortality year of 1869-70. 
In Pennsylvania fourteen i^er cent., and in Califoi'nia only seven 
and a half per cent, of all deaths, are chargeable to those two 
scourges. Pennsylvania was selected for comparison because 



SALUBRITY. 119 

it is central, and, as compared with the other portions of the 
Atlantic side, a salubrious State ; yet the chances of death 
from tliose two main diseases are twice as great there as here. 
§ 88, 3£al.aria. — Climatic influence is the chief cause of 
sickness, and more men die of those diseases which may be 
classed as climatic, than of all other diseases combined. The 
climatic ailments are mainly fevers, which carry off from one- 
fourth to two-thirds of the hiiman race ; and inflammations 
of the respiratory organs, which carry off from one-sixth to 
one-third, according to circumstances. The precise manner 
in which the organs of the human system are thrown into 
disorder by meteorological influences is a matter of doubt and 
dispute; but the fungoid theory of disease is now gaining 
favor — the theory that many of our ailments are caused by 
the growth of vegetable parasites carried into our systems in 
the form of germs so minute that they float about in the air. 
These germs of disease multiply with the greatest rapidity, 
and display the most malignant activity, in a humid and hot 
atmosphere. 

The principle is universally accepted among physicians, that 
malignant fevers owe their origin mainly to heat and humidity. 
We have overwhelming evidence that these two conditions 
always accompany, or have accompanied, the most fatal epi- 
demics and endemics, including cholera, yellow fever, vomito, 
jungle fever, Panama fever, and various forms of plague 
which formerly raged in Europe, but seem to have entirely 
disappeared now. The greatest mortality by such ailments is 
invariably in hot climates, where the rainfall is great, or in 
warm, wet seasons ; and they are never very destructive in 
high latitudes or altitudes, or in dry countries. In some trop- 
ical districts, forty per cent, of all foreigners are seriously sick 
the first year of their residence, and half of the cases prove 
fatal ; and even the natives, accustomed to the climate, can- 
not venture to spend a night in certain unhealtliy localities. 
The migration of business men to and from certain tropical 



120 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

cities, is almost as regular in spring and fall as tbe move- 
ments of migratory birds. Ex|)erience has proved that men 
who can safely spend the winter in New Orleans cannot stay 
there througli one summer, without incurring greater danger 
than soldiers usually do in a severe pitched battle. The pres- 
ence of malarial diseases is generally proportioned to the 
amount of rain, but in certain localities it depends on proxim- 
ity to swamps, and the direction of the winds. Thus, if the 
winds blow i*egularly through the summer in a certain dis- 
trict from the westward, a town on low groiind east of a 
large swamp, in a hot summer, will be sickly, while another 
town on the other side of the swamj) may be quite healthy. 
Let the wind shift for a few weeks, and tlie conditions will 
change. If a high ridge runs through the sickly town, the 
people there will be healthier than on the low land. A French 
army that encamped on a malarial piece of ground, near Na- 
ples, was suddenly reduced, by sickness, from 28,000 to 4,000 
men. In 1809, a British army corps lost 10,000 men at Wal- 
cheren, Netherlands, by malarial disease. It is highly dan- 
gerous to spend a single night in the open air in portions of 
the Campagna, near Rome. There are some very sickly 
places on the Sacramento basin, to the leeward of the tule 
swamps of ground flooded by water from ditches ; and the 
introduction of extensive irrigation will inj ure the salubrity 
of some districts now free from malaria. Yet irrigation will 
not do more harm in the Sacramento-San Joa<juin Valley than 
it does in Lombardy, which is inhabited by a handsome, active, 
and healthy race. 

§ 89. Consumption. — Consumption is, in most cases, the 
growth of a cold, humid climate. lu Massachusetts, from 20 
to 25 per cent, of the deaths are by consumption ; in Philadel- 
phia, 12 per cent. Boston has more consumption, in propor- 
tion to its population, than any other place in the Union. It 
is more common among those classes confined to the house 
than those who work in the open air, the deaths by consump- 



SALUBRITY. 121 

tion, in some occupations, rising to 33 per cent, of the entire 
mortality. The Indians at Paget Sound also suffer much from 
consumption, probably because they spend a great portion of 
their time in huts filled with smoke. 

At Philadelphia, 12 per cent, of the deaths ai-e caused by- 
consumption, 4 by pneumonia, 2 by croup, and 2 by bronchitis ; 
but generally, in the Northern States, there are two cases of 
consumption to one of pneumonia. The proportion of the two 
diseases is reversed in the cotton districts, pneumonia appear- 
ing to replace consumption in the warm climates. The deaths 
by all diseases of the respiratory organs are 29 per cent, of 
the entire mortality in Massacluisetts, 27 in Maine, 26 in Lon- 
don, 25 in Havana, 24 in Michigan, and 20 in New York. In 
California, most of our consumptives are imported. The dry- 
ness and warmth of our climate offer little encouragement for 
it, and the proportion of deaths from it is less than one-half 
that in New York. 

A mild, dry climate is not only a protection against con- 
sumption, but also a cure for it. Dr. Copeland says : " Moist- 
ure is a good conductor of electricity ; dry air, a bad one. 
The human body receives electricity constantly from the earth, 
with which it is in contact, and probably develops it through 
the organic processes. In dry weather, this electricity is re- 
tained, in a great measure, and the body becomes loaded with 
it, the nervous system is stimulated, and buoyancy and cheer- 
fulness of mind follow. In damp weather, on the contrary, 
the moisture of the atmosphere acts as a conductor, and con- 
stantly carries away the electricity from the body ; thence it 
is at a minimum, and mental depression follows." 

Whether this explanation be correct or not, it is certain that 
a warm, moist climate impairs the appetite and causes languor, 
and a dry, cool atmosphere stimulates the appetite and invig- 
orates the system. As debility is the main difficulty in con- 
sumption, it is evident that the warm, moist climate should be 
carefully avoided. 



122 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

Persons suffering witli debility, as well as consumption, should 
seek a climate marked by dryness, equability, and mildness. 
The nearest approacli to such a climate in Europe is found on 
the shores of the Mediterranean, at Mentone, Nice, and Can- 
nes, between Marseilles and Genoa, and consequently the best 
districts there are tilled with invalids from other parts of the 
continent. The southern part of this State has a still better 
climate, more equable, drier, and milder. The injurious influ- 
ence of moist air upon diseases of the throat and lungs has not 
been explained, but it is felt very plainly. The equability and 
mildness of temperature stimulate to exertion, and protect the 
invalid from dangerous chills and enervating heat, and take 
away any motive for cutting ofl:' ventilation. 

It is only of late years that much attention has been given 
to medical climatology, and there is, as yet, no comprehensive 
treatise upon it. The books which treat of it omit to men- 
tion many material facts, and are devoted to the praise of 
small districts. For the cure of diseases of the respiratory 
organs, no part of the continent is equal to California. Our 
climate has the equable, mild, and dry character that is needed 
by persons sufleriug with bronchitis and various forms of pneu- 
monia. It is now conceded by leading physicians that con- 
sumption, except in very advanced stages of the disease, is 
curable, not by drugs, which are injurious, but by living in 
the open air, especially in a dry atmosphere. The disease is 
mainly caused by breathing foul air, and is most destructive to 
persons dwelling in close rooms. Tlie only cures of advanced 
cases of consumption, well authenticated, within the range of 
our experience and study, were efl;ected by the influence of the 
open air. 

The mildness of climate is important to invalids generally. 
Perfect ventilation and exercise are necessary in many diseases, 
and they will always be neglected if they are not conducive to 
comfort, as they are here. Cold prevents ventilation, and heat 
prevents exercise. In chronic diseases, as a class, clianges of 



SALUBRITY. 123 

climate, diet, and occupation are among the chief remedies — 
especially of climate. Here we have the variety needed — from 
the eternal snows of the Californian Alps, through a dozen dif- 
ferent phases of eternal spring and summer, to the burning 
sands of the Colorado Desert, with its four inches of rainfall 
in a year. The patient can dwell under the palm trees or in 
the orange groves of Los Angeles, under the giant fig trees of 
San Luis Obispo, in the vineyards of Sonoma, in the orchards 
of Santa Clara or of Yolo, in the evergreen oak groves of 
Alameda, amidst the mammoth trees of Calaveras, the majes- 
tic white oak groves of Napa, under the shadow of the cliffs 
of Yosemite, or amidst the sulphurous fumes of Geyser Canon. 
§ 90. State Mortality Table.— The following table of the 
mortality of certain towns in California, for the year ending 
June 30th, 1871, was prepared by Dr. Logan, Secretary of 
the Board of Health : 



124 



RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 



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SALUBRITY. 125 

§ 91. Prevalent Diseases. — We have in California less con- 
sumption, scarlet fever, cholera infantum, and sunstroke, than 
in the Atlantic States, and more rheumatism and neuralgia, 
heart disease, aneurism, and diseases of the eyes, tlian in the 
Atlantic States. In some districts we have far less malarious 
disease; in others, as much. It has been observed that ozone 
is rare where malarious epidemics prevail, and that it is 
abundant in the trade winds that blow throughout the summer 
along our coast. Whenever the winds stop for a few days in 
the middle of the Sacramento-San Joaquin basin, malarious 
fever prevails. In the natural advantages of the coolness of 
summer climate, all those conditions which indicate malaria, 
the constancy and force of the breezes, and the abundance of 
ozone, San Francisco has no equal among the great cities. 
Sunstroke, which has in one season killed 300 persons in New 
York city, is almost unknown here, even in the interior val- 
leys, where the summers are much hotter than in New York. 
The dryness of our atmosphere secures a rapidity of evapora- 
tion which keeps down the temperature of the body. Neither 
are any lives lost in our valleys by the intense cold, such as 
killed seventy persons, and maimed thirty more, in Minnesota, 
in the winter of 1872-73. 

§ 92. Mineral Waters. — California is peculiarly rich in min- 
eral waters. Elsewhere the springs suitable for medicinal pur- 
poses are few and far apart ; here they are found in great clus- 
ters, and they may be numbered by the thousand. They ex- 
tend from the borders of Oregon to Mexico, and from the 
edge of the Pacific to the alkali plains of the Great Basin. 
Surprise Valley, in latitude 41° 40', at the eastern base of the 
Sierra, has hundreds of hot and cold saline, chalybeate, and 
sulphur springs ; the mud volcanoes of the Colorado Desert, 
and the hot springs of Warner's Valley, are samples of what 
are to be found in the extreme south ; but the most remarka- 
ble collections are in Napa, Sonoma, and Lake Counties, about 
a hundred miles north of San Francisco, and conveniently ac- 
cessible by steam and stage. 



126 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

31ount St. Helena, in the first of those counties, the Geysers 
in the second, and Clear Lake in the third, all of volcanic ori- 
gin, and at least two of them the craters of great volcanoes, 
are the three corners of a triangle, with sides thirty miles 
long, and an area that was once alive with subterranean fires. 
The basaltic columns in regular crystallization, found near the 
summit of St. Helena, extensive strata of trap covering the 
adjacent ridges, the tufa formed by torrents of mud or wet 
sand, that came from volcanic vents on the triangle, making 
up considerable parts of the ridges between Suisun and Napa, 
and between Napa and Sonoma Valleys, the petrified forests 
near Calistoga, the sulphur bank and the borax pond near 
Clear Lake, all indicate the remarkable influences that were 
active in that region in a remote age. Not unworthy of their 
associates, are the mineral springs in the same region. We 
find them hot, warm, and cold ; rich in sulphur, iron, alum, 
Epsom salts, carbonates, chlorides, and borates of soda, car- 
bonic acid, sulphuretted hydrogen, carburetted hydrogen, and. 
other gases. 

The following analytical table gives the number of grains 
of the ditfcrent solids contained in a gallon of certain mineral 
waters of California. The analysis of Napa Soda was made 
by L. Lanzweert ; those of the White Sulphur water hj Prof. 
John Le Conte ; that of Sanel by Dr. J. A. Bauer ; that of 
Adams by Thomas Price ; and the others by unknown authori- 
ties. 



SALUBRITY. 



127 







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There are traces of iodides and bromides in Paso Robles 
Spring No. 2 ; of nitric acid and salt of potash in Adams 
Spring ; of sulphate of potash in Summit Soda Spring ; of mag- 



128 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

nesia in Saratoga ; of siliceous acid and carbonate of iron in 
Sanel ; of silica in New Almaden, and of alumina in Calistoga. 

Adams has 304, New Almaden 112, Summit Soda 186, 
Paso Robles No 1, 47, Paso Robles No. 2, 10 cubic inches 
of carbonic acid gas in a gallon ; Sanel has an abundance ; 
and Napa Soda has also an abundance, probably exceeding 
any of the others. Paso Robles No. 1 has 10 grains of car- 
bonic acid to the gallon, the only instance of determining 
its quantity by weight. 

White Sulphur No. 1 has 6, Wliite Sulphur No. 2 has 4, 
White Sulphur No, 3 has traces, Calistoga has 3 cubic inches, 
and Paso Robles. No. 1 has a saturating quantity of sulphur- 
etted hydrogen. 

The Paso Robles Spring marked No. 1 is the "Mud Spring"; 
the Sanel Spring has been called the " California Seltzer "; the 
Saratoga, the "Pacific Congress"; the New Almaden, the 
" California Vichy," and so on. 

The carbonate of soda, carbonate of iron, iodides and bro- 
mides, are among the most beneficial thereapeutic agents found 
in mineral Avater ; but sulphates of magnesia, and soda and 
phosphates, are also desirable ; and the iodides and bromides, of 
which traces are found in the waters of Paso Robles, are es- 
pecially valuable in certain diseases. 

§ 93. Health Resorts. — The jDlaces which have been most 
in favor with Americans of late years, as health resorts for 
consumptives, have been Mentone and vicinity, in southeastern 
France, Florida, Minnesota, and California. The tables given 
in the chapter on climate, will enable the reader to compare 
the temperature and rainfall of these places. We pronounce, 
without hesitation, against Florida and Minnesota : the former, 
because it is very moist as well as too warm, and the latter, 
becaiise it is very cold. Neither is fit for residence through 
the year. Santa Barbara, which may be regarded as the type 
of the entire coast district south of Point Argiiello, is 14° 
warmer in January than Mentone, and has eight inches less 



SALUBRITY. 129 

vain. St. Helena very nearly resembles Mentone, being two 
degrees warmer in January, four degrees warmer in July, and 
liaving about seven inches more rain. 

Tliere ai-e, however, extensive districts in California for 
which we have no meteorological tables, and some of these 
may liereafter come into higlier favor with consumptives than 
any of those to which they uow throng. Among these, Pope 
and Berreyesa Valleys, east of Mount St. Helena, and tlie head 
of the Salinas, Saticoy, and Cayama Rivers, between latitudes 
34° and 35° 30', deserve special attention. These valleys are 
west of the Diablo ridge, but are protected against the ocean 
winds and fogs by a distance of about thirty miles covered 
witli mountains, beyond whicli the air is dry and the climate 
warm. 

Special attention should be given to the fact that Dr. J. H. 
Bennet, who first brought Mentone into notice as a healtli re- 
sort for consumptives, and whose book, " Winter in the South 
of Europe," is our authority, strictly orders his patients to 
leave Mentone in tlie spring, because the summer is too warm 
and moist. 

§ 94. /San Itafael and St. Helena. — The places most in fa- 
vor as sanitariums in California, are San Rafael, St. Helena, 
SaiitaJigji)ara, Los Angeles, and San D iego. 

San Rafael is fifteen miles north of San Francisco, and eight 
miles from the ocean, and has less fog and wind than any 
other town near the edge of San Francisco Bay. It is not 
equal in the dryness of its atmosphere and the scantiness of 
i-ainfall to the southern coast, but it has the great advantage 
tliat its residents can spend five or six hours in the middle of 
the day in San Francisco, and tlius attend to business tliere. 
A thermometrical record shows that tlie mean temperature of 
January, is 50'' at 9 a. m., 58° at 12 m; 60<=' at 3 r. m., and 51° 
at G I'. M. ; while in July the means for the same hours are 59°, 
^0°, 68° and 06° respectively. These figures not having been 
kejjt at the times usually observed by meteorologists, cannot 
9 



130 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

be compared safely witli tlie otlier figures kept according to 
rule. 

St. Helena is forty miles from the ocean and fifty miles 
north of San Francisco, near tlie liead of Napa Valley, and 
shut in hy high mountains, which cut otF the wind and fog. 
Though tlie rainfall is greater than at San Rafael, yet the at- 
mosphere is drier and more agreeable to consumptives and 
asthmatics. The distance from San Francisco is three times 
greater than to San Rafael, yet the people of St. Helena can 
come to the metropolis, spend three hours, and return the 
same day. About two miles away are the White Sulphur 
Springs, a fashionable summer resort ; eight miles oti' is Calis- 
toga, another summer resort, and eight miles further is the 
summit of Mt. St. Helena. The town is in the center of a 
grape-growing district, and unimproved land ranges from SI 00 
to $200 per acre in the vicinity. 

§ 95. Santa Barbara. — SantaBarbara, in latitude 34° 24', 
on the ocean shore, about forty miles east of Point Argucllo un- 
der the shelter of tlie Santa Inez ridge, which runs east and 
west, is more in favor at present with consumptives than any 
other town in the State. Dr. Logan, Secretary of the Board of 
Health, has recommended it as having the best climate in the 
State for diseases of the respiratory organs. He says : 
" Bounded on the north by the Coast Range Mountains, of an 
average height of 3,000 feet, which prove an insurmountable 
barrier to the peculiar harsh oceanic winds, and on the south 
by a channel formed by the Santa Cruz and other islands, some 
twenty miles distant, whicb serve as Avell to deflect the cold 
current that sweeps down from the Arctic seas as to afl:brd 
protection from the concomitant cold fogs that roll in so unin- 
terrujitedly in other parts of the coast, this portion of California 
stands out ])re-cminently the land of promise to the weary des- 
ponding invalid." 

Dr. Brinkerhofl', a resident of Santa Barbara, writes thus : 
" Some ten miles from Santa Barbara, in a westerly direction. 



SALUBRITY. 131 

in the bed of tlie ocean, about one and a half miles from the 
shove, is au immense s|)ring of petroleum^ the product of whicli 
continually rises to tlie surface of the water, and floats upon it 
over an area of many miles. This mineral oil may be seen any 
day from the decks of the steamers plying betsveen here and 
San Francisco, or from the high banks along the shore, its 
many changing hues dancing upon the shifting waves of the sea, 
and affording various suggestions, both for the speculative and 
the speculator. Having read statements that, during the past 
few years, the authorities of Damascus, and other plague-rid- 
den cities of the East, have resorted to the practice of intro- 
ducing crude petroleum into the gutters of the streets to disin- 
fect tlie air, and as a preventive of disease, which practice has 
been attended with the most favorable results, I throw out the 
suggestion, but without advancing any theory of my own, 
whether the prevailing westerly sea breezes, passing over this 
wide expanse of sea-laden petroleum, may not take up from it 
and bear along witli them to the places whither they go, some 
subtle power which serves as a disinfecting agent, and which 
may account for the infrequency of some of the diseases re- 
ferred to, and possibly for the superior healtlifulness of the 
climate of Santa Barbara." 

Whether the claim of superiority for Santa Barbara over 
any other place in California be justified or not, all must 
admit that it has great advantages of climate and position. It 
is a town of about 4,000 inhabitants, has a beautiful site, fine 
gardens and orchards, and has become tlie leading health 
resort of the New World. 

§ 96. San Diego. — San Diego ranks next in public favor to 
Santa Barbara, and has a similar climate, except that the rain- 
fall is thirty-three per. cent, less, and the humidity of the 
atmosphere greater. Dr. Bevei-ly Cole, who is cited by the 
people of San Diego as authority, speaks thus of its advanta- 
ges : 

" The wind blowing steadily from one quarter insures healthi- 
ness. Take a place where the wind blows in the morning 



132 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

from the west, and in tlie afternoon from tlie north ; to-day 
from the south, and to-morrow from tlie northeast, and yoii 
will see that the people inhabiting that place are seriously 
aifected by the sudden and abrupt clianges. Tliis is easily ex- 
plained. Tlie sudden changes interrupt the action of the skin, 
and cause the poisonous matter that should be eliminated 
therefrom to be thrown back on the internal organs, thereby 
causing disease. The great difference in tlie velocity of the 
wind at this point and elsewhere is also noticeable. The aver- 
age number of miles traveled during the eight months' obser- 
vation I have referred to, was thirteen miles per hour at 2 p. 
M. ; during the rest of the day it will not exceed from three to 
five miles per hour. Tiie great velocity acquired by the wind 
at San Francisco and other places, impairs health by vaporizing 
the moisture of the skin and thereby rendering the surface 
eold. The remarkable lightness of the wind can therefore be 
set down as a cause of exemption from sudden and serious 
colds, that often grow into pulmonary complaints. The hu- 
midity of the atmosphere is also of the greatest importance. 
There is a disposition to rely too much on the absence of 
moisture. Tliere teas moisture in the air of San Diego, as the 
observations pi'oved, and it was a very necessary quality. The 
application of an ointment to a sore was not because the oint- 
ment contained curative powers, but simply to protect it from 
the irritating action of the air. This shows that moisture, and 
not its opposite, is necessary. It would be folly in a man with 
ulcerated lungs to seek tlie raritied air of a high mountain. The 
action of the oxygen woukl prove positively injurious, because it 
would irritate the lungs, which require, instead of extreme 
dryness, exactly the reverse condition of the atmosphere — 
moisture." 

The entire coast between Santa IJarbara and San Diego, with 
an average width of twenty miles, and an area of three thous- 
and square miles, will probably be, occupied for a health 
resort. Among the towns along the shore are Ventura, 



SALUBRITY. 133 

Huenerae, Santa Monica, San Pedro, Wilmington, Analieim 
Landing, San Juan Capistrano, San Luis Rey, and San Die- 
guito. Between ten and tliirty miles back are Santa Paula, 
Triunfo, Camula, San Fernando, Los Angeles, San Gabriel, 
Monte, Nietos, Anaheim, Riverside, Temascal, Temecula, 
Pala, and Joya. Still further back, and most of them at an 
elevation of 1 ,000 feet or iaiore, are San Bernardino, Cocumon- 
go, Jurupa, Weaver, Warner, and San Felipe. 

§ 97. Klamath Valley.— Oi the Klamath Valley, Dr. T. T. 
Cabanis says : 

" Rlieumatism, croup, bronchitis, pneumonia, and pleurisy, 
are almost unknown, and during a residence of fourteen years 
in this portion of the State, I have never seen but two ca<es of 
tuberculous consumption. These did not originate here. Ten 
cases of croup would cover all which I have witnessed. I can- 
not now recall to my mind more than ten cases of pneumonia. 
When it is considered that the population of tliis county, 
being miners and farmers who are greatly exposed to bad 
weather, and have to endure great hardships, it is a matter of 
surprise that so few cases of diseases of the lungs are known 
here. Tliough much is due to the climate, there is one thing 
which exercises a remarkable influence on this subject, and 
that is, that the people, as a general thing, live in a primitive 
manner. They live in houses which are very open, and they 
use chimneys in the place of stoves." 

Tliere are a few localities where intermittent fever prevails 
during the Fall, but it yields very readily to small doses of 
quinine — never leaving any of the sequelae behind which are 
found following that form of disease in hot climates. Neural- 
gia is frequently seen, but it often depends upon derangement 
of the digestive organs. Were people to closely observe the 
laws of health, it would be a rare sight to find a sick man 
among us. The diseases which are the most prevalent, are 
those which follow errors of diet. 

§ 98. Earthquakes. — Earthquakes belong, on scientific con- 
siderations, in the chapter in geology ; but practically they 



134 EESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

come witliin the domain of salubrity, for many persons in the 
Eastern States object to California as a place of residence, be- 
cause of the danger from those convulsions of the globe. 
There is a possibility of death from them, but the i)ossibility 
is so remote that it does not disturb the enjoyment of life here. 
In twenty years, about forty deaths have been recorded in the 
State, and not one of these occurred in a strong house. The 
majority of the victims lived in walls of adobe, or dried mud, 
ready to topple over at a slight shock. In San Francisco, 
several thousand brick houses, many of them three, and some 
four stories high, have stood for fifteen years, or more, not only 
without coming down, but without showing any mark of in- 
jury, beyond slight cracks in the plastering. The deaths from 
earthquakes liave been about two annually, or at the rate of 
one in a quarter of a million ; while, in the Eastern States, 
lightning, sunstroke, and hurricanes, which kill nobody here, 
have each slain three times as many relatively. 

Most of tlie earthquakes of California are confined to very 
small districts. Tims, not more than one in ten of those felt 
in San Francisco is perceived in Sacramento. Many shocks 
are slight, and observed only by a few people. The question 
is frequently asked in San Francisco, " AVas there an earth- 
quake last night?" Somebody felt a slight tremor in the 
house ; perhaps it was caused b)^ an earthquake — perhaps by a 
heavy wagon passing tlu'ough the street. Tourists occasionally 
express great disappointment because a shock came, and was 
so slight tliat tliey did not feel it, either because they were 
asleep, or were walking. Many persons in the street, when 
the shock of October 21st, 1868, occurred, did not feel it, and 
when they saw the people rushing out of the houses, wondered 
at the excitement. 

We frequently hear San Franciscans say, this is " eartliquake 
weatlier," wlien it is sultry, but there has been notliing in ex- 
perience to justif}' such language. No peculiar condition of 
the temperature of the sky, or of the barometer, has uniform- 



SALUBRITY. 135 

ly, or generally, preceded tlie shocks, nor is there any rule 
by which we can predict tlieir occurrence, nor have ^ve any 
instrument by which we measure precisely their duration, 
violence, or tlie course of tlieir vibrations. 

§ 99. Their Frequency. — Earthquakes are common in some 
parts of California, and especially at San Francisco, Los An- 
geles, and near the Tejon Pass, at the southern junction of the 
Sierra Nevada and Coast Mountains. They are rare at Sacramen- 
to, Marysville, Vallejo, and Napa. As a general rule, they are 
less frequent and less severe in the northern than in the southern 
part of the State. The vicinity of Humboldt is more often shak- 
en than any other place north of the Bay of San Francisco. 
About a dozen earthquakes are felt in a year at different places 
in the State ; not so many at one place. Most of the shocks 
are so slight as to pass unnoticed by a great majority of the 
people ; and there are persons who have resided six or eight j^ears 
in San Francisco, and many who have resided ten years in 
other parts of the State, and say they have never felt an earth- 
quake. No strongly-built house has been injured, by an 
earthquake in California, north of latitude 35°, since the Amer- 
ican conquest. Several brick walls have been cracked in San 
Francisco, but they were weak structures, built on " made 
ground," and would, perhaps, have cracked by settling, of 
their own weight. Large four-story houses have been so much 
shaken, that the inmates have run out in great alarm ; but, on 
examination, it was found that the buildings were uninjured, 
even in the slightest perceptible manner. 

On one such occasion, a gentleman, who thought his life in 
great danger, and ran to save it, observed, before he left his 
room, that the water was splashed out of his basin by the 
movement of the house. The basin was of earthen-ware, 
about fifteen inches in diameter at the top, six inches deep, half 
full of water, and it stood on an ordinary wash-stand. Pie 
supposed that, with another such a shock or two, the building 
must be in ruins; and he was very much astonished to find 



136 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

that there was not the slightest crack in tlie walls or jilaster- 
ing. His room was in the fourth story of a brick hotel. It 
seems that the whole building had moved together. 

The fear of earthquakes prevents the erection of high struc- 
tures for show ; and, for this reason, there are few tall steeples 
in San Francisco. Several churches have been commenced on 
such a plan that they might be crowned with lofty spires, but 
it was thought more prudent to leave them with li)w towers. 
Tlie same motive induces many wealtliy lamilies to reside in 
wooden liouses, which are considered better titled to resist the 
shocks of earthquakes. These wooden houses, it must be kept 
in mind, are not " framed " with mortices and tenons, as large 
wooden Iiouses are usually erected in the Atlantic States, but 
are " Chicago frames," held together with nails. This style of 
building, though introduced solely because of its cheapness 
and simplicity, is considered, by far, the most secure against 
earthquakes. 

Few earthquakes felt at San Francisco since 18 4G have been 
more severe than one which visited Buffalo, New York, in 
1857, as described in the American Jbunial of /Science and Art 
for September, 1858. 

§ 100. List of Earthquakes. — The following is a list of the 
most notable earthquakes observed in California. 

On the 11th October, 1800, six severe shocks were felt at 
San Juan Bautista, and every house was shattered and ren- 
dered uninhabitable. Tlie same earthquake was felt with 
much severity at San Jose. 

On the 21st of June, 1808, twenty-one shocks were felt at 
San Francisco, and the few hotises then existing were seriously 
injured. 

In September, 1812, on a Sunday, an earthquake threw down 
the Mission Church at San Juan Capistrano, in latitude 33'' 20', 
and thirty persons were killed. Tlie church at Santa Inez, in 
Santa Barbara County, was thrown down on the same day ; 
but the shock, according to report, was an hour later than at 



SALUBRITY. 137 

Sail Juan Capistrano, and tliere was nobody in the church 
when it fell. At the same time the sea receded a long distance 
from the ordinary place of the water's edge, on the beach of 
Santa Barbara ; and the people there, knowing that it would 
soon rush upon the shore, tied to the higher ground, and by 
that means alone saved their lives. 

The old Mission Church at Santa Clara was thrown down 
by an earthquake in 1818. 

On tlie loth of May, 1851, a severe shock was felt in San 
Francisco, Windows were broken ; merchandise was thrown 
down from shelves in stores ; and vessels in the harbor rolled 
heavily. 

A severe shock of an earthquake was felt at Fort Yuma and 
vicinity on the 29th of November, 1852. The low grounds 
near tlie Colorado cracked open with long, wide fissures, from 
which water, sand, and mud, spouted up. The fissures were 
in some places so large, that they turned the river from its 
course; and the change was so sudden, that great multitudes 
of fish were left to die in the mud. At the same time, the 
mud-volcanoes of Lower California, distant forty-five miles 
south westward from Fort Yuma, resumed their activity ; for, 
although there is no record of their previous action, yet they 
probably existed before. A pool of hot, sulphurous water had 
been observed at the place by Americans since 1849. Imme- 
diately after the shock of 1852, the ofiicers at Fort Yuma saw 
a great body of steam shoot up at least one thousand feet in 
the desert to the southwest ; and when, soon afterward, some 
of them went out to examine into tlie cause of it, they foimd 
the mud-volcanoes on the site of the old ]iool, throwing up 
steam, boiling water, and mud, very much like the mlses far- 
ther north. 

On the lOtli of July, 1855, an earthquake cracked tlie walls 
of twenty-six houses in Los Angeles; but no wall was thrown 
down, nor was any person injured. 

The earthquake of January 9th, 1857, shook the earth from 
Fort Yuma to Sacramento, a distance of five hundred miles, 



138 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

being most severe at Fort Tejon, about half-way between 
these two points. Loud noises, either rumbling or like explo- 
sions, were heard to accompany the shock at Tejon, San Ber- 
nardino, Yisalia, and in the Mojave Valley, The waters of 
the jMokelumue River were thrown upon the banks so as to 
almost leave the bed bare in one place. The current of Kern 
River was turned up-stream, and the water ran four feet deep 
over the bank. The water of Tulare Lake was thrown upon its 
shores ; and the Los Angeles River was flung out of its bed. 
In Santa Clara Valley the artesian wells were mucli aflected. 
Some ceased to run, and others had an increased supply of 
water. Near San Fernando, a large stream of water was 
found running from the mountains, where there was no water 
before. In San Diego, and at San Fernando, several houses 
were thrown down ; and at San Buenaventura the roof of the 
Mission Church fell in. Several new springs were formed near 
Santa Barbara by the shock. In the San Gabriel Valley, the 
earth opened in a gap several miles long; and in one place the 
river deserted its ancient bed, and followed this new opening. 
In the valley of the Santa Clara River there were large cracks 
in the earth. A large Assure was made in the westcn-n part of 
the town of San Bernardino. At Fort Tejon the shock threw 
down nearly all the buildings, snapped oiF large trees close to 
the ground, and overthrew others, tearing them up by the 
roots, and tore tlie eartli apart in a fissure twenty feet wide 
and forty miles long, the sides of which rent then came to- 
gether with so much violence that the earth was forced up in a 
ridge ten feet wide and several feet high. At Reed's Ranch, 
not far from Fort Tejon, a house was thrown down, and a wo- 
man in it killed. 

On the 26th of November, 1858, nearly every brick build- 
ing in San Jose was injured by an earthquake. 

On the 3d of July, 1861, Amador Valley, in Alameda 
County, was severely shaken. Adobe houses were seriously 
injured, cliimneys toppled down, furniture was flung from side 



SALUBRITY. 139 

to side of the houses and much broken, and men in the fields 
were thrown down. 

On Sunday, October 8th, 1865, at 12.45 p. m., a severe shock 
visited the coast valleys, from San Luis Obispo to Humboldt 
Bay. In San Francisco, weak brick buildings were shattered, 
cornices were thrown down, and several persons were seriously 
injured by falling bricks, and by injui'ies received in jumping 
out of windows. 

The eartliquake which destroyed many towns and killed 
many people in Peru, on the 13th of August, 18G8, was not 
felt in California, but its tidal waves were observed here the 
next day. The sea ebbed and flowed in a remarkable manner 
from San Francisco to San Diego, from daylight till dark, the 
tides reaching heights not observed before, but doing no dam- 
age. 

Tiie severest earthquake observed in San Francisco since 
1846, came on the 21st of October, 1868, about eight a. m. 
A dozen brick buildings on made ground were shattered so as 
to be imtenantable, tlie cornices of two dozen were thrown 
down, many walls were cracked, much window glass was 
broken, and five persons were killed by falling bricks, and as 
many more had bones broken by jumping out of windows. 

On the 26th of March, 1872, the southern part of the State 
was shaken up, the shock being most severe in Owen Valley, 
275 miles southeast of San Francisco, and beyond the Sierra 
Nevada. Two hundred buildings, most of them cheap struct- 
ures of adobes, were thrown down, and thirty-five persons 
were killed by the falling of the walls and roofs. Cracks 
opened several feet wide, and tlien came together with so 
much force that ridges were thrown up. Springs disappeared 
in some places, and appeared- in others. The level of Owen 
Lake raised four feet, or the ground on one side seemed to 
have sunk as much. 



140 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 



CHAPTER V. 

SCENERY. 

§ 101. Introductory. — Califoi-nia lias much beautiful sceneiy. 
The atmosphere is remarkably clear, giving the eye a wide 
range. The mountainous character of the State not only pre- 
vents monotony and secures a rich variety of landscapes, but 
gives them extent and grandeur. The large rivers, the high 
snow-peaks and ridges, wide bays, forests of the largest and 
most graceful evergreens, parks of majestic oaks, natural 
meadows, covered in the spring with brilliant grasses and flow- 
ers, are all magnificent in their kind. The low lands are 
mostly bare of timber, with hei-e and there a groA'e of oaks, 
and lines of trees and bushes along the water-courses. The 
coast valleys are very beautiful ; and, in the course of ten or 
fifteen years, when ornamented with thorough cultivation, will 
be as pretty as any places in the world. Tlie most reniarkable 
features of our scenery are : Yosemitc, the Big Tree Groves, 
the Geysers, the Petrified Forest, Mt. Diablo, Mt. St. Helena, 
Mt. Tamaljiais, Mt. Shasta, the Californian Alps, Clear Lake, 
and Lake Tahoe. 

§ 102. Yosemite. — Yosemite Valley, one of the greatest nat- 
ural wonders of the world, is a chasm eight miles long and a 
mile wide, in the western slope of the Sierra Nevada, tliirty 
miles west of the summit, and one hundred and forty miles 
east of San Francisco, in a direct line. Tlie bottom of the 
valley is 4,0G0 feet above the level of the sea, and its general 
course is east and west. The sides are granite walls, rising 



SCENERY. 141 

steeply — in many places, almost vertically — to a beiglit varying 
from 1,200 to 4,600 feet The Merced River runs tlirough the 
valley, escaping at the lower end through a narrow and rugged 
cafion. 

Among the attractions of Yosemite, are a dozen cliffs, more 
than 3,000 feet high, eiglit cataracts, of which one is 1,700 
feet high, and five dome-shaped mountain peaks. No such 
collection can be found elsewhere within the same area, and 
they are accompanied by valley scenery of great beauty. The 
general judgment of travelers has decided that Yosemite is 
more worthy of a visit, for grand and picturesque scenery, than 
any other place known to tliem. 

§ 103, Opinions of Tourists. — Some of these opinions are 
worthy of record here. Prof. J. D. Whitney says": 

" The peculiar features of the Yosemite are : first, the near 
approach to verticality of its walls ; next, their great height, 
not only absolutely, but as compared with the width of the 
valley itself; and finally, the very small amount of debris, or 
talus, at the bottom of these gigantic cliffs. The.^e are the 
great characteristicsof the valley througliout its whole length ; 
but, besides these, there are many other striking peculiarities 
and features, both of sublimity and beauty, which can hardly 
be surpassed, if equaled, by those of any other mountain 
scenery in the world." 

Horace Greeley wrote thus : 

" Of the grand sigh'ts I have enjoyed — Rome from the 
dome of St. Peter's — the Alps from the valley of Lake Como 
— Mont Blanc and her glaciers from Chamouny — Niagara — 
and the Yosemite — I judge the last-named most unique 
and stupendous. It is a partially- wooded gorge, one hundred 
to three hundred rods wide, and 3,000 to 4,000 feet deep, be- 
tween almost perpendicular walls of gi'ay granite, and here 
and there a dark yellow pine rooted in a crevice of either 
wall, and clinging with desperate tenacity to its dizzy eleva- 
tion. The isolation of the Yosemite — the absolute wilder- 



142 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA, 

ness of its sylvan solitudes, many miles from human settle- 
ment or cultivation — its cascade 2,000 feet Iiigli, tliough the 
stream which makes this leap has worn a channel in the hard 
bod-rock to a depth of 1,000 feet — 'renders it the grandest 
marvel that ever met my gaze." 

Tlie opinion of Starr King was that — 

" Nowhere among the Alps, in no pass of the Andes, and in 
no canon of the mighty Oregon range, is there such stupen- 
dous rock scenery as the traveler now lifts his eyes to." 

The following is an extract from Samuel Bowles : 

" Indeed, it is not too much to say that no so limited space 
in all the known world offers such majestic and impressive 
beauty. Niagara, alone, divides honors with it in America. 
Only the whole of Switzerland can surpass it — no one scene 
in all the Alps can match this, before me now, in the things 
that mark the memory and impress all the senses for beauty 
and for sublimity." 

§ 10-i. The Leading Features. — Tlie tourists wlio enter the 
valley by the trails that lead over the mountains, north and 
south of the caiion, obtain line views just before commenc- 
ing the descent. The chasm is seen winding away amidst 
the cliffs ; a cascade is in sight, and numerous mountain-peaks 
rise in various directions. At the bottom of the dell are the 
meandering river, the green grass, and lofty trees diminished 
to the appearance of shrubs. The Bridal Veil fall, seen on the 
right, several miles distant, is a mere white streak on the face 
of the rock, and does not appear grand in the least, but it is 
nine hundred and forty feet high, and becomes imposing as 
the traveler approaches it. The body of water is about seventy 
feet wide on the lirst of June. 

Nearly opposite this cascade, on the northern side of the val- 
ley, and about three-quarters of a mile distant, but apjiarently 
much nearer when the tourist looks up at it, is the Capitan, (or 
Captain) a rock projecting into the valley and rising up per- 
pendicularly from the level green-swai'd three thousand 



SCENERY. 143 

three bundrecl feet. It has two faces, which meet nearly at a 
right angle, one facing to the south, and the otlier to the west. 
It is regarded as one of the grandest features of the Yosemite 
scener3\ The Indian name is Tutucanula. 

The next object of interest as we ascend the valley, is the 
Three Brothers, or Pompompasus. Tlie highest of these reaches 
an elevation of 4,000 feet above the valley, and according to 
Clarence King, the best general view of the valley can be ob- 
tained from its summit. 

A mile beyond the Bridal Veil, on the south side of the 
valley, we come to the Cathedral Rocks, which, as seen from 
the eastward, suggest tlie architecture of the medieval cathe- 
drals. Tliey rise to a height of 3,000 feet, and near them are 
the Cathedral Spires, each about 700 feet high and 300 feet 
in diameter. Tiiey do not look so large, however, to the 
spectator, who looks up nearly half a mile from the valley to 
their base. 

Sentinel Rock, a natural obelisk, about 1,000 feet high and 
300 feet in diameter at the summit, and 3,043 feet above the 
valley, is on the south side of the valley, about five miles from 
the western end. It stands out from the adjacent cliff in such 
a manner as to be one of the most striking objects in the land- 
scape from many different points of view. 

Directly ojjposite to Sentinel Obelisk, are the Yosemite Falls, 
the upper one 1,700 feet and the lower 400, with a distance of 
half a mile, and a descent of 620 feet in a series of small cas- 
cades, which are not visible from the valley between them. 
The falls are made by Yosemite Creek, which is fed by the 
melting snows on the southern slope of Mt. Hoffman, two miles 
distant. The stream is usually thirty feet wide and ten feet 
deep, with a speed of a mile an hour, about the middle of 
June, but its size depends entirely on the stock of snow and 
the heat. A hot day, wlien the snow is abundant, makes a 
perceptible difference in the size of the cascade. The best 
general view of both falls is obtained from the south bank of 



144 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

tlie Merced River, more than a mile from tlie upper fall, which 
from that distance looks like a ribbon of mist, and is entirely 
inaudible. Yosemite Creek dries up some time between the 
first of July and the last of August, according to the seasons. 

A little more than a mile eastward from the Yosemite Falls, 
is a vertical wall of granite, half a mile long, and nearly 2,000 
feet high, from which some scales of rock have fallen down, 
leaving arches like eyebrows, several hundred yards long, pro- 
jecting sixty or seventy feet beyond the surface of the wall 
beneath. They are called the Royal Arches. 

Adjoining this wall on the east, and attached to it, is ^Yash- 
ington Column, which, as seen from the westward, looks like 
a half pillar. 

Half a mile eastward from the Washington Column, is 
Mirror Lake, a shallow body of water, covering an area of 
several hundred acres. It is remarkable on account of the 
l^erfect smoothness of its surface, at certain times — early in the 
morning, for instance — before the winds have commenced to 
blow, and then the neighboring cliffs are reflected with won- 
derful clearness and accuracy. This lake is an enlargement of 
Tenaya Creek. 

The Half Dome, three-quarters of a mile southeastward 
from Mirror Lake, is part of a dome which was cut through 
vertically, and half of it carried away. The side next the val- 
ley id perpendicular for 2,000 feet from the summit, which is 
4,734 feet high. Professor Whitney claims for it, " the first 
place among all the wonders of this region." 

Opposite to the Royal Arches, and two miles east of the 
Sentinel Obelisk, the Little Yosemite Valley enters the main 
valley. Its stream is the Merced River, which there fiows 
down through a rugged and narrow canon. On this stream, a 
mile after leaving the main valley, we come to the Vernal 
Fall, 400 leet high. The water in this tumble has a greenish 
color, iinlike the others, which are broken into white si)ray. 

A mile further on the same stream, is the Nevada Fall, GOO 
feet high. It is, in many respects, the handsomest and grand- 



SdEITERY. 145 

ifist of all the cascades in the Yosemite region. Between the 
Vernal and Nevada Falls, the river descends 275 feet, and is 
broken into foam for a large part of its distance. 

Three-quarters of a mile southwestward from tlie Vernal 
Fall, is Toloohveack, or, as Whitney sjdcIIs it, Illilouette Fall, 
never measured, but estimated to be 600 feet high. Tolool* 
weack Creek, below the cascade, runs through a rugged cas- 
cade, in which immense rocks lie piled upon one another, with 
great open spaces beneath them. 

Half a mile southeastward from Sentinel Obelisk, is the 
"Sentinel Dome, 4,150 feet high. From its summit, very ex- 
tensive views can be gained. 

Glacial Point, a little more than a mile eastward from Sen- 
tinel Obelisk, commands extensive views. 

The South iDome, or Mount Starr King, is two miles south- 
eastward from the iSTevada Fall, and is the most regular in 
shape of all the mountain domes. Its summit is 6,500 feet 
above the valley, and is inaccessible. 

Immediately north of the Nevada Fall, rises the Cap of 
Liberty, or Mount Broderick, to a height of 4,600 feet above 
the valley. 

Several miles eastward from the Half Dome, is the Cloud's 
Rest, 5,700 feet above the valley. 

The North Dome, 3,568 feet above the valley, is half a mile 
north of the Washington Column. 

§ 105. Cascades of MocJcats. — It is impossible to convey, by 
description, a clear conception of the grandeur, the varietrv, 
and the singular character of the Yosemite scenery. A large 
number of excellent photographs show many of the beauties 
of the place faithfully. A peculiar feature in most of the cas- 
cades is not caught in the photographs — I mean the rocket 
forms of the water, which, as tlie spectator looks up, seems to 
shoot down or out, in forms like a succession of rockets, each 
composed of a head of white water, leaving a trail of snowy 
sparks behind it, until it is exhausted, and others succeed it.. 
10 



146 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

All the cacasfles, save the Vernal, are thoroughly white, and 
roekcty at the top. The rockets of the Upper Yosemite are 
distinctly perceptible from the Yosemite Hotel, a mile and a 
half away. This feature impressed me very strongly, and yet 
I have never seen a recognition of it in any of the descrip- 
tions of the valley, or pictures of the falls. 

§ 106. Yegetation, etc. — There are a thousand nooks and 
corners, and woody dells, full of enchanting picturesqueness. 
Tlie rocky cliffs take all manner of queer forms, resembling 
pyramids, castles and domes, chimneys and spires. In one 
place, there is a narrow cleft, one hundred feet deep, in one of 
the rocks, as though some giant had commenced to split off part 
of the mountain, and had left his work unfinished. 

The river, as it meanders through the valley, is a great ad- 
dition to its beauty ; and its waters, as well as those of the 
lakes, are clear as crystal in the summer, though turbid in the 
spring. Mountain trout are found in all these streams. 

The climate of the valley is cool. The numerous cascades 
agitate the air ; and, near the fall, there are often gusty winds. 

There is much difference between the vegetation and tem- 
perature of the two sides of the valley ; the northern side,where 
the sunshine is felt throughout the day, being much warmer 
than the shadows of the southern cliffs. Shrubs and flowers 
are in the full glory of foliage, and flower along the northern 
wall in May and June, while the same species are still bare 
or budding a mile to the southward ; but the more delicate 
annual shrubs are usually more healthy on the southern than 
on the northern side of the stream, because those in the warmer 
spots are stimulated to come out so early as to be badly 
nipped by the frosts, which prevail here all through the spring, 
and into the summer. 

In ordinary winters, five feet of snow lies iif the valley, and 
the cascades are surrounded, at the base, by lulls of frozen 
spray. 

§ 107. Formation of the Valley. — There are three theories 



SCENERY. 147 

to explain the formation of the valley. Professor J. D. Whit- 
siey thinks that the bottom " sank down to an unknown depth, 
owing to its support being withdrawn from underneath during 
some of those convulsive movements which must have attended 
the upheaval of so extensive and elevated a chain." That is 
the subsidence theory. The glacial theory, that the glaciers 
coming down the mountain side scooped out this immense 
chasm, is advocated by John Muir, a geologist who has 
spent much time in the Yosemite region. Nobody advocates 
the theory of erosion. Ordinary water currents could not 
have worn away avails so vertical and crooked as these, nor 
could glaciers have done so, even if there had been an outlet. 
I believe the fissure theory, but will attempt no argument for 
it here. The rock split apart, and it still preserves the shape 
that would follow a great crack in the solid crust of the earth. 
The subsidence theory wovild do in the vicinity of a volcano, 
and in a diffei-ent rock formation ; but not in granite, high up 
on a ridge that has never been volcanic in its character. 

§ 108. Iletchhetchy . — A chasm similar to Yosemite is 
Hetchhetchy, twelve miles further north, on the Tuolumne 
River. This valley is three miles long, half a mile wide, and 
fenced in by granite clifts from 1,500 to 2,500 ifeet high. There 
are several finecascades,includingthatof Hetchhetchy Creek, 
1 ,700 feet high. The scenery bears a strong general resemblance 
to that of Yosemite, but is on a smaller scale. Above Hetch- 
hetchy Valley, the canon reaches thirty miles into the moun- 
tains, with walls nearly vertical for a large part of the dis- 
tance, and much remarkable scenery, including many high 
cascades. 

On the south side of Mt. Whitney, King's River forms a 
wonderful canon, more than a mile deep, with a level bottom, 
in one place half a mile wide and ten miles long. 

§ 109. Big Tree Groves. — The mammoth sequoias are 
prominent features in the scenery of Cahfornia. A tree three 
hundred feet high and thirty feet thick in the trunk, is a great 



148 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

curiosity, and here we have numerous groves of them. Cal- 
averas County lias two ; Tuolumne, two ; Mariposa, three ; and 
Fresno and Tulare, many. 

The Calaveras Big Tree Grove, containing one hundred and 
fifty trees, ninety of them more than fifteen feet in diameter, 
was the first discovered, is nearest the center of the State, is 
more conveniently accessible than the others, has better ac- 
commodations for tourists, and attracts the greatest number of 
visitors. There are in this grove ten trees thirty feet in diam- 
eter, and eighty-two between fifteen and thirty, making ninety- 
two over fifteen feet through. One of the trees, which is 
down, must have been four hundred and fifty feet high and 
forty feet in diameter. The " Horseback ride," one of the no- 
tabilities of the place, is a hollow tnink, through which a man 
can ride upright on horseback, seventy -five feet. 

In 18.34, one of the largest trees, ninety-two feet in circum- 
ference and three hundred feet high, was cut down. Five 
men worked twenty-two days in cutting through it with large 
augers. On the stump, Avhich has been smoothed ofl", there 
have been dancing-parties and theatrical performances ; and for 
a time a newspaper, called the Big Tree Bulletin, was pinnted 
there. An examination of its rings showed that it was about 
2,000 years old. 

At the same time that this tree was cut down, another was 
stripped of its bark for a distance of one hundred and sixteen 
feet from the ground. This tree continued green and flour- 
ishing two and a half years after being thus denuded, and did 
not begin to show signs of dying until a very hard frost came 
in the winter of 1856-57. Seven years passed before it died. 

In many of the trees in all the groves, liollows are burned 
at the foot, and some of them have been burned so as to stand 
on three legs. One of these, in the Calaveras grove, called 
" Uncle Tom's Cabin," has an open space under it of more 
than a dozen feet square. The largest trees seem to end ab- 
ruptly at the top, having been broken ofl:' by the snow, which 



SCENERY. 149 

often falls to a great depth so higli up on the Sierra Nevada. 
The trees, in some places, grow ver}^ near together ; in others, 
they are comparatively far apart ; and occasionally two or 
three will be seen which are united at the ground, although 
they may have been twenty or thirty feet apart when they 
sprouted. The Tuolumne Big Tree Grove, on the wagon road 
from Big Oak Flat to Yosemite, has two dozen Sierra sequoias, 
most of them ten feet or less in diameter, but one of them 
about twenty-five. It is one of the smallest and least impos- 
ing. 

A wagon road projected to run from Coulterville, passes 
through the Merced Grove, a few miles west of Yosemite Val- 
ley. 

The State Grove, in Mariposa County, is fifteen miles south 
of Yosemite, and has been given by Congress to California 
for a public pleasure resort. It has four hundred and twenty- 
seven trees, including one hundred and thirty-four over fifteen 
feet in diameter, eighteen over twenty-five feet, and three over 
thirty -three feet. 

§ 110. Moimtahi Peaks. — Mount Diablo, or as the Spaniards 
and many others call it, Monte Diablo, thirty miles eastward 
from San Francisco, rising to a height of 3,856 feet, an iso- 
lated cone in the midst of a fertile and populous country, otters ' 
one of the most extensive and interesting views in the world. 
It overlooks the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bays ; 
the Santa Clara, San Ramon, San Joaquin, Sacramento, Suisun, 
Napa, and Sonoma Valleys, and commands a view of the 
Sierra Nevada for a length of two hundred and fifty miles from 
Mt. Lassen to Mt. Whitney. The Sierra rises like an amphi- 
theatre, and Diablo is the point from which it can be seen to 
the best advantage. Though not so high as a score of other 
peaks in the Coast Range, nor half so high as a hundred in the 
Sierra, it is familiar to, and is seen every clear day by more 
people than any other mountain in California. It commands a 
view of an area of 40,000 square miles of land — as much as the 



150 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

entire State of ]!^ew York. J. D. Whitney, in the first volume 
of the State Geological Survey Report, says : " It is believed 
there are few, if any, points on the earth's surface from which so 
extensive an area can be seen as from Monte Diablo." San 
Francisco, Sacramento, Stockton, Vallejo, Antioch, Redwood 
City, the Farallones, and the Marysville Buttes, are all dis- 
tinguishable. 

A ride of sixteen miles from Martinez, half of it on horseback, 
or of twenty-six miles from Oakland, including ten on horse- 
back, enables a person to reach the summit. Accommoda- 
tions have been provided on the mountain for visitors. 

Mount Shasta at the north, and Mount San Bernardino at 
the south, occupy positions of relative prominence somewhat 
like that of Diablo in the middle of the State, towering far 
above the surrounding country. Shasta is clothed with snow 
for a distance of a vertical mile from the summit most of the 
year, and is a sublime feature of the landscape ; it is visible in 
every direction to a distance of a hundred miles. 

The State Geological Survey discovered, in the summer of 
1864, that in the Sierra Nevada, between the latitudes of 35° 
and 38°, an area of 300 square miles or more has an elevation 
exceeding 8,000 feet, with 100 peaks that rise above 10,000 feet, 
and one that reaches 14,900 feet, the highest point in the Unit- 
ed States, and 500 feet higher than Mount Shasta. The lat- 
ter makes a more im]Dosing appearance, because it rises in 
solitary grandeur 7,000 feet beyond the tops of any mountain 
within fifty miles of it, whereas. Mount Whitney is surrounded 
by other peaks of nearly equal elevation, and is not distinguish- 
able or, at least, is not a striking landmark, from any large 
town or main line of travel in tlie State. Switzerland has, for 
hundreds of years, had the fame of possessing the greatest area 
of land elevated nearly to the level of perpetual snow, and the 
largest number of great peaks within the limit of high civili- 
zation ; but is now surpassed by this Alpine region of California, 
which reaches from Kern River to Castle Peak, a distance of 
two hundred miles. 



SCENERY. 151 

The following is a list of some of the prominent peaks on 
the Sierra Nevada : 

PEAKS. ELEVATION. LATITUDE. 

deg. ruin. 

MountWhitney l4,90O 36 32 

Moixnt Shasta 14,442 41 25 

Mount Tyndall 14,386 36 40 

Mount Daua 13.227 37 S- 

Mount Lyell 13,217 37 44 

Mount Brewer 13,886 36 42 

Mount Silliman 11,623 36 38 

Mount Lassen io,577 4° 3° 

Mount Gardner 36 46 

Mount Kearsarge 36 46 

Mount King 36 48 

Mount Humphreys 37 ^5 

Mount Goddard 37 05 

Red Slate Peak 37 32 

Cathedral Peak 37 S° 

Mount Hoffman 37 5° 

Castle Peak 38 04 

Downieville Butte 39 35 

Kaweah Peak 36 31 

The peaks of which the elevations are not given, are sup- 
posed, except the Downieville Butte, to be at least 10,000 feet 
high. 

The following are some of the peaks in the Coast Range : 

PEAKS. ELEVATION. LATTTUDE. 

deg. min. 

North Yolo Bailey 40 3° 

South Yolo Bailey 4° 10 

Mount St. John 39 25 

Mount Ripley 7,5°° 39 08 

Mount St. Helena 4,343 38 4° 

Mount Diablo 3,856 37 50 

Mount Tamalpais 2,604 37 53 

Mount Hamilton 4,44° 37 20 

Loma Prieta 4,040 37 08 

Gabilan Peak 36 50 

Mount Chupadero 36 35 

Mount San Bernardino 1 1,600 34 09 



152 RESOURCES OF CALITORNTA. 

Tamalpais, or Mount Tamalpais, ten miles nortli of Snn 
Francisco, has an elevation of 2,604 feet. Tlie summit can be 
reached on horseback, and commands a fine vieAv of San Fran- 
cisco and San Pablo Bays, with many of their tributary val- 
le3^s, and of the summit of the SieiTa Nevada. 

Mount St. Helena, ten miles, by the trail, from Calistoga^ 
has an elevation of 4,343 feet, and commands an extensive 
view, but far inferior to that from Diablo, the adjacent country 
being less fertile, higher, and mountainous. 

Loma Prieta, Mount San Bruno, Mount Hamilton, the 
Mission Peak, (in the county of San Francisco) Castle Peak,, 
Grizzly Hill, near Grass Valley, Mount Gabilan, and Uncle 
Sam Mountain, near Clear Lake, all look down on interesting 
scenes. 

§ 111. /San Francisco mid Vicinity. — In many respects the 
appeai-ance of San Francisco is decidedly unprepossessing ta 
the strange visitor. It stands at the. end of a peninsula, much 
of which is bare, rocky hill and loose sand. We must go- 
twelve miles before we reach any large body of tillable soil. 
As seen from the deck of a vessel entering the harbor, between 
July and November, the place looks like desolation and cheer- 
lessness. The streets, the houses, and the hills are brown, and 
only here and there, at long intervals, do we get a glimpse of 
a little garden. 

But after looking about a v^cok or two, the stranger gets 
better impressions. The lack of shade trees in the sti-eets and 
gardens, and even in the public squares, is explained by the 
coolness of the summer climate, and the general desire to get 
all possible sunshine on average July days. There is pleasure 
in thinking of a city to which, and not from which, we wish 
to flee in tlie dog-days. And then, as we go to the more fash- 
ionable residence streets, we find numerous elegant gardens, 
luxuriant in a vegetation that could not endure the winter of 
Washington and St. Louis. The delicate and beautiful Euro- 
pean roses, (the I^auliue, the Laffay, the Agrippiua, the Mai- 



SCENERY. 153 

maison, the Perfection, the SaftVano, and a hundred others) 
the geraniums, the fuchsias, the floripondios, the heliotropes, 
the verbenas, the laurustinus, and the Australian acacias, 
give a beauty to our gardens not to be found in any of the 
larger Eastern American cities. Tlie external architecture 
of our dwellings, too, is more graceful, the wooden material 
allowing a liberal use of ornament at little expense. Although 
the buildings on our main business streets are not so high as 
at the East, still, in general appearance, Montgomery and 
Kearny will compare favorably with the most fashionable 
streets of the Eastern cities generally, and can surpass any- 
ihiim outside of New York and Chicago. 

But to see the most attractive features of San Francisco, 
we must look not at the city herself, but at her surroundings 
and suburbs. In these she is unsurpassed. She stands upon 
the shore of a magnificent bay, which attracted the admira- 
tion and the praise of every navigator who visited it, even 
before it had attained any commercial importance. The bay 
is skirted by fertile plains several miles wide, beyond which rise 
mountain ridges from two to three thousand feet high. A 
spur runs through the city, within ten minutes' walk from the 
Merchants' Exchange, and has various peaks three hundred 
feet liigh ; and also within the city limits, but three miles from 
the City Hall, are the Mission Peaks, with an elevation of 
eisrht hundred feet. Eio;ht miles further south is Mount San 
Bruno, twelve hundred feet high ; fifteen miles to the north- 
ward, beyond the Golden Gate, is Tamalpais, twenty-six hun- 
dred feet high ; thirty-five miles to the eastward Mount Diablo, 
three thousand eight hundred and seventy-six feet high, and 
fifty-five miles to the southward Mount Hamilton, six hun- 
dred feet higher yet. These are the corner ornaments to the 
mountain framing of our landscape. Diablo and Tamalpais 
are very beautiful mountains, and the former is as high as 
Vesuvius. 

The bay has a fine contour, and romantic shores. Goat Is- 
land, Angel Island, Seal Rock, and Alcatraz,add much to the 



154 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

landscape. The steep sides of the last, and its position, just 
inside the entrance, and near the middle of the cliaunel, tit it 
admirably for the impregnable fortress of a great harbor. Its 
casements and barbette batteries suggest detiance, even to those 
who have no technical knowledge to assist them in under- 
standing the full military value of the place. The Golden 
Gate is tlie impressive name of the strait, a mile wide, guard- 
ed on each side by high rocky bluffs, leading into the chain of 
bays, with an area of 350 square miles. It is appropriate, too, 
for through it have passed $1,000,000,000 to stimulate com- 
merce and industry and to enrich the world. 

But six miles from our anchorage lies the Pacific, the vast 
ocean which covers more than a third of the surface of the 
globe, and is the open road of our commerce with four conti- 
nents. Its name, too, is approj^riate here, for it is never vexed 
by hurricanes or cyclones on this Coast. Yet its surf is 
always grand, and the beach extending southward live miles 
from Point Lobos is unsurpassed in beauty, and the road to it 
past (after going through) Lone Mountain Cemetery and back 
by the Ocean House over the mountain, with a chance to look 
down on the city and bay, completes a round of scenery which 
no other city can surpass. The new park has a fine drive, and 
Woodward's Garden oflers to visitors attractions not to be 
equaled in some important respects by the costly and exten- 
sive park of the Eastern metropolis. 

Oakland, a suburb of San Francisco, a city of homes for 
our business men, is embowered in a grove of indigenous ever- 
green oaks, and abounds with spacious gardens filled with the 
most luxuriant, varied, and handsome vegetation that our cli- 
mate will tolerate. We have seen many to^vns, renowned for 
beauty, but we have yet to see one that deserves to be placed 
alongside of Oakland. At Berkeley, a few miles distant, we 
find ourselves in the midst of a landscape attractive witliout 
help from art, and promising to be enchanting, after the land- 
scape gardener and the architect shall have placed a few years 



SCENERY. 155 

of labor on it. In Hayes Cafion and Moraga Valley, east of 
Oakland, and at Saucelito, we find romantic nooks as wild in 
vegetation as if there were no city witbin a bundred miles. 
The variety and fullness of natural scenery, which j^eople else- 
where must travel for weeks to see, we have here collected 
within a narrow space, which the land, the sea, and the sky 
have conspired to bless with peculiar favor. 

§ 112. Geysers. — The Geysers, in the northern part of So- 
noma County, are among the wonders of the State. They are 
in a deep and steep ravine, amid a district filled with the 
marks of violent volcanic action. Down the western slope of 
the mountains which separate Clear Lake from the basin of 
Russian River, runs a stream called the Pluton River ; and 
near this, at an elevation of seventeen hundred feet above the 
sea, are the Geysers, a multitude of springs, boihng with heat, 
and emitting large quantities of steam, with a hissing, roaring, 
and sputtering noise. Near them are many tepid and cold 
springs, which add to the wonderful character of the place. 
Hot and cold springs, quiet and boiling springs, are found 
within a few feet of each other. And then the waters differ 
as much in taste, odor, and color, as in temperature and action. 
One is almost as fetid at times as rotten eggs ; another has 
black water, resembling ink ; a third is called the " Eye-water 
Spring," and its waters are reputed to be excellent for curing 
sore eyes and cutaneous diseases ; and the waters of others are 
strongly purgative. The ground in the ravine is in places 
deeply covered with the minerals deposited by the springs; 
among these, sulphur, sulphate of magnesia, (Epsom salts) 
sulpliate of aluminum, (alum) and various salts of iron, pre- 
dominate. The chief feature of the Geysers is called " The 
Steampijje," an orifice about eight inches in diameter, in the 
hill-side, from which rises a large volume of steam to a height 
varying from fifty to two hundred feet. The steam roars con- 
tinuously, sometimes bursting out in pufls louder than that 
made by an engine's escape-pipe. It deposits flowers of sul- 



156 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

phur on the objects which come witliin its range. " The 
Devil's Punch-Bowl," called also "Tlie Witches' Cauldron," is 
in a large hole, six feet across, in the hill-side. The liquid in 
the bowl is black and thick, and is always in commotion with 
the heat, and the vapor from it deposits black flowers of sul- 
phur on the rocks around. The sides of the canon are bare, 
and smoking with heat. The Geysers ai*e a favorite place of 
resort for pleasure-seekers, being conveniently accessible, part of 
the route from San Francisco going through either Napa, 
Petaluma, or Russian Valleys by i-ail, and the remainder by 
stage over a romantic wagon road. 

§ 113. Petrified Forest. — Five miles west of Calistoga, in 
the ridge which separates Xa))a from Santa Rosa, are a score 
of i^etrified tree-trunks, lying down, and these have been called 
the " Petrified Forest," a name which might mislead persons 
to imagine that the number of petrified trees was large, and 
that they were standing erect. They are scattered over an 
area five hundred yards square, and others are found at inter- 
vals, on the ridge, down nearly to the bay, a distance of twen- 
ty-five miles. The largest is five feet in diameter and about fif- 
teen feet long, with nothing to indicate what became of the 
remainder of the tree. No branches have been found, nor 
more than twenty feet of the trunk of any one tree. The 
smallest trunk is o-ver a foot in diameter, and most of them 
over two feet, but many fragments are foimd, broken from 
trunks of unknown size. The petrifaction is complete. The 
woody fiber has entirely disappeared, and has been replaced by 
a grayish stone that seems to be mainly carbonate of lime, in 
which the grain of the timber is distinctly preserved. The pet- 
rifactions split readily with the grain, and the numerous sjjlin- 
ters lying about resemble wood rather than stone, until they 
are picked iip. 

All the stone trunks are broken across transversely, some of 
them in pieces not more tlian a foot long, on an average, with 
a squarenesss of fracture suggesting that after petrifaction 



SCENERY. 157 

they must have been thrown down. No other explanation 
will accoiuit for tlie fact that all have numerous transverse 
breaks, cutting squarely across the trunks, with no appearance 
of having been crushed. No timber could possibly be broken 
in sucli a manner : tlie breaks must have occurred in tlie stony 
condition. 

The rock of the ridge is a volcanic sandstone, and was 
formed by the solidification of wet sand thrown up by a vol- 
cano, or waslied down from its sides. Such a tlood of volcanic 
sand filled up an ancient forest, to a depth of twenty feet or 
more ; the trees rotted away ; those parts above the surface 
of the sand disappeared ; tliose parts below the surface were 
replaced by stone deposited in water which trickled down ; 
this petrifaction was harder than the surrounding sandstone, 
which was washed away-; the petrified trunks, left witliout sup- 
port, fell down and were broken into numerous fragments, and 
there they continue to lie, and to tell of wonderful events that 
happened thousands of years ago. 

The trees were redwood, of the species which still grows in 
the same vicinity. 

Another petrified forest, similar to that near Calistoga, is 
found in the valley of Cedar Creek, in the northeastern corner 
of the State. 

§ 114. Waterfalls. — Besides the cascades of the Yosemite 
and Hetchhetchy valleys, there are a number of others in the 
State. There is a cataract, about five hundred feet high, on 
Fall River, which empties into the Middle Fork of Feather 
River ; one of three hundred and eighty feet, where the South 
Fork of the American River slides down over a convex rock, 
looking like a streak of snow when seen from a distance ; one 
of sixty feet, in the San Antonio River, in Calaveras County ; 
another of seventy-five, on the same stream, which falls four- 
teen hundred feet within a mile ; and one of three hundred 
feet, called the " Riffle-box Falls," in Deer Creek, Nevada 
County. 



158 RESOURCES OP CALIFORNIA. 

§ 115. Katural Bridges. — California lias five natural 
bridges. The largest of these is on a small creek emptying 
into the Hay Fork of the Trinity River, -where a ledge of rock 
three hundred feet wide crosses tlie valley. Under this rock 
runs the creek, through an arch twenty feet high by eighty feet 
across. The rock above the arch is one hundred and fifty feet 
deep. On Lost River, in Siskiyou County, there are two nat- 
ural bridges, about thirty feet apart. The rock is a conglom- 
erate sandstone, and each is from ten to fifteen feet wide, and 
the distance across the stream is about eighty feet. One of 
these bridges is used regularly by travelers. On Coyote Creek, 
in Tuolumne County, ten miles northward from Sonora, are 
two natural bridges, half a mile apart. The upper bridge ia 
two hundred and eighty-five feet long with the course of the 
water, and thirty- six feet high, with the rock thirty feet deep 
over the water. The lower bridge is similar in size and height 
to the other. 

§ 116. Caves. — There are a number of caves in California. 
Of these, the most noted are the Alabaster Cave, seven miles 
from Auburn, in Placer County ; the Bower Cave, twelve miles 
from Coulterville, in Mariposa County ; the Cave of Skulls, in 
Calaveras County ; and the Santa Cruz Cave, two miles from 
the town of Santa Cruz. The Alabaster Cave has two cham- 
bers : one about one hundred feet long by twenty -five Mnde ; 
the other two hundred feet long by one hundred Avide. It 
contains a large number of brilliant stalactites and stalagmites. 
The Bower Cave has a chamber one hundred feet long by 
ninety wide ; it is reached by an entrance seventy feet long, 
and in one place only four feet wide. The Santa Cruz Cave 
has no beauty to render it attractive. The Cave of Skulls is 
remarkable for having contained, when first discovered, a num- 
ber of human skulls and bones, all covered with layers of 
carbonate or sulphate of lime, from the thickness of a leaf to an 
inch. These bones are now in the cabinet of the Smithsonian 
Institute. At Cave City, and seven miles from Murphy's, in 



SCENERY. 159 

Calaveras County, is a cave in which a Know-Nothing lodge 
was accustomed to meet in 1855. In the bluif bank of the 
Middle Fork of the Cosumnes River, eighty feet above the 
stream, is a cavern called Limestone Cave, with many intri- 
cate passages and some line stalactites. 

§117. Mirage. — Among the most remarkable scenes wit- 
nessed in California are the illusions of the mirage, seen fre- 
quently in the deserts of the Colorado and the Great Basin, 
and sometimes as far north as San Francisco. " All the phe- 
nomena of mirage," says Professor W. P. Blake, "are exhib- 
ited on a grand scale upon the Colorado Desert. Mountain 
ranges, so far distant as to be below the horizon, are made to 
rise into view in distorted and changing outlines. Inverted 
images of smaller objects, and apparent lakes of clear water, 
are often seen, and invite the traveler to turn aside for refresh- 
ment. The first exhibition of a mirage that was seen [by 
Blake's party] was from the mai'gin of the plain at Carriso 
Creek, looking toward the Gila, about ninety miles distant. 
It was early in the morning, and the eastern sky had that 
golden hue which precedes the rising sun. Tall blue columns, 
and the spires of churches, and overhanging precipices, seemed 
to stand upon the verge of the plain. Their outlines were 
changing gradually, and, as the sun rose higher, they were 
slowly dissipated. After reaching Fort Yuma, and witnessing 
the strangely precipitous and pinnacled outline of the moun- 
tains beyond, it was at once apparent that the mirage con- 
sisted of their distorted images. When we were i;pon the 
northern part of the desert, the peak of Signal Mountain was 
often distorted and raised above the horizon. The points of dis- 
tant ranges also seemed at times to be elevated above the 
surface, precisely as the headlands of a coast sometimes ap- 
pear to rise above the water at sea." 

One morning in the last week of March, 1871, the peoj^ie of 
Santa Cruz looking southward towards Monterey, M'hich is 
twenty-two miles distant, and usually invisible, saw the town 



160 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

in the air, with its houses and dipping. The j^icture was 
clearly distinguishable for several hours, but repeatedly 
changed with the clouds, the objects reflected being often 
magnified and distorted. Beautiful mirage pictures have on 
rare occasions been seen at San Francisco. 

§ 118. Mud -Volcanoes. — In the Colorado Desert, about lati- 
tude 33° 25', and longitude 115° 45', are some remarkable 
mud-volcanoes. Tiiey are in that part of the desert below the 
level of the sea ; and if the water of tlie ocean were turned 
in iipon that low land, they would be lost to sight. As it is 
now, they are very rarely visited, because they are in a region 
so desolate, that an excursion to them is accompanied by seri- 
ous hardships. The volcanoes cover a space of a quarter of a 
mile long, and an eighth of a mile vpide ; this area is of soft 
mud, through which hot water and steam are constantly es- 
caping. The noise can be heard at a distance of ten miles, 
and the steam is visible at a greater distance. The quantity 
of water thrown up is small ; that of the steam, great. The 
vapor rises steadily in some places, with a hissing noise ; in 
other places, it bursts out witli the noise and action of an ex- 
plosion, throwing the mud a hundred feet into the air, with a 
loud report. 

There are places where the mud is in constant movement, 
and rises in great bubbles, and bursts, as if boiUng with in- 
tense heat ; while in other places, regular cones, apparently 
hardened into permanency, and with shapes varying from low 
hillocks to sharp points, have been formed. There are boil- 
ing springs, which throw up their water twenty or thirty feet ; 
and there are large basins, one Imndred feet across, and five or 
six feet below the general surface, in which a bluish paste is 
continually boiling. Some of the springs are surrounded by 
incrustations and arborescent concretions of carbonate of 
lime ; others are encircled by deposits of sulphur. The air 
blown from tlie salses is fetid with sulphur. It is very danger- 
ous to approach the springs and cauldrpns, because the whole 



SCENERY. 161 

earth is soft in the vicinity of them, and frequently the crust 
is broken and thrown up with great force, to establish new 
springs, steam-vents, and mud-cauldrons ; and the boiling slime 
or water thrown up on these occasions would suffice to kill a 
man in a few seconds. 

In the northeastern part of Plumas County are many hot 
springs — perhaps numbering one thousand^covering an area 
of ten acres. They roar and hiss so as to be heard at a dis- 
tance of a mile, and their steam can be seen from a greater 
distance. The whole place smells strongly of sulphur, which 
mineral, as well as alum and various earthy salts, abounds in 
the soil about the springs. 

In four or five places in California, the earth is constantly 
hot, and sulphuroiis gases and vapors are constantly escaping. 
Ther.e is such a solfatara about fifteen miles eastward from 
Santa Barbara ; another near Owen's Lake ; another near the 
Geysers, in Sonoma ; and another near the hot springs, in Plu- 
mas County. 

11 



162 EESOUHCES OF CALirOKNI^, 



CHAPTER VI. 

COMMERCE. 

§ 119- Situation. — The commercial situation of Califomis 
is excellent. It is in the southern half of the north temperate 
zone, in the midst of the western coast of a large and rich con- 
tinent, at one end of tlie middle Pacific Railroad, on all the 
lines of circumterraneous steam communication now in opera- 
tion, and on the shortest and most comfortable line that can 
be built to connect the main centers of wealth, ^wpulation^ 
industr}', and intelligence in Euroj^e, Asia, and North America, 
It possesses the best site for a commercial center between 
Cape Flattery and Cape Horn, and it has the greatest accu- 
mulation of capital, the largest body of people familiar with 
the most profitable branches of trade and industry, and the 
best system of rail communication. 

Tlie foreign commerce of California, and the greater part of 
its commerce with the Atlantic States, is conducted by San 
Francisco. The Golden Gate on the sea side, and the Donner 
Pass on the laud side, are the doors through which the trade 
and travel entering and leaving the State must go. It might 
be difficult, if not impossible, to find another country so exten- 
sive, possessing only one importing point on a sea coast more 
than a tliousand miles long, and only one notable importing 
road on an inland boundary fifteen hundred miles long. Ore- 
gon and Arizona send travelers, but no freight ; and Humboldt 
and Santa Cruz sometimes send away lumber, but (except a 
cargo or two of nitrate of potash received at the latter point) 
have received no imports. • 



•COMMERCE. 163 

§ 120, Volume of Business. — The commerce of California 
is exceptionally active. No country of Europe, and no other 
State in the New World, consumes so large a proportion of 
foreign merchandise, or exports so much, relatively, of its 
agricultural and mineral products to foreign lands. The sum 
of the annual exports ranges from $65,000,000 to $75,000^000, 
and the cost of imports is the same. The value of the im* 
ports from foreign countries is tibout $20,000,000, and that 
from other jDortions of the United States, about $30,000,000; 
the freights and charges on imports are $5,000,000, the duties 
exacted by the Federal Government, $8,000,000 ; and a con- 
siderable sum is paid as interest on borrowed capital, and as 
expenses of Californians traveling abroad. 

Among our exports are $20,000,000 of treasure, the produce 
of our States and Territories; and the total annual product of 
California for exportation, is from $45,000,000 to $55,000,000, 
or about $85 to the person ; whereas $20 to the person is a 
large sum in other States. 

The Pacific Slope of the United States has 1,292,000 square 
miles, a present population of 831,059, and a coast line of 
12,000 miles, whereas the coast line of our country on the 
Atlantic side, is 4,000 miles. A large part of the area of the 
Pacific side of our country is composed of desert, barren 
mountain, and Arctic snow fields, but there is a fertile area 
of not less than 300,000 square miles, with a capacity to 
maintain a population of 50,000,000 iwoj^le. 

San Francisco, in the amount of its foreiga importations, is 
the fourth city in the Union, being inferior to New York, 
Boston, and Baltimore, and superior to Philadelphia and New 
Orleans. 

Before 18G8, San Francisco supplied all the exports of the 
State, save a few cargoes of lumber from Humboldt Bay and 
Santa Cruz ; about two-fifths of the wheat is now loaded at 
Oakland and Vallejo. 

Among the exports of 1873, were wheat and flour, twen- 
ty-one millions ; wool, seven and three-quarters ; wines, cue ; 



164 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

ores, one and three-qi;arters ; leatlier, two-tliirds ; salmon, a 
quarter ; quicksilver, four-fifths ; lumber, a third of a mil- 
lion ; and hides, bones, horns, brooms, abelone shells, barley, 
fruit, mustard seeds, and furs, in smaller amounts. 

Among our imports we pay four millions annually for sugar ; 
one and a half for coffee ; four for other provisions ; making 
nine and a lialf millions for provisions alone. Then we have 
three for coal ; one for nails ; and as much for iron, in pigs and 
bars ; tobacco and kerosene each demands one ; clotliing re- 
quires twelve ; miscellaneous dry goods, six ; hardware, four ; 
machinery and agricultural implements, three ; boots, one 
and a half; drugs, one; jewelry, two; tableware, two ; and 
several millions must be allowed for sundries. 

§ 121. Shiipping. — The vessels which entered the harbor 
of San Francisco, from the sea, in 1872, numbered 3,670, and 
measured 1,237,000 tons, an average of 330 tons each. The 
coasters, (vessels from American ports on the Pacific) meas- 
ured 634,000 tons ; the vessels from foreign ports, 505,000 tons ; 
and those from American ports on the Atlantic, 96,000, In 
1860, the coasters measured 205,000 tons, and the foreign 
ships, 199,000 ; showing an increase of two hundred per cent. 
in the former, and 150 in the latter, in thirteen years ; while 
the American Atlantic ships, in 1860, measured 129,000, show- 
ing a decrease of 30 per cent. Tlie coasters numbered 2,972, 
and averaged about 200 tons each. The American ports on 
the Atlantic sent us 86 ships, including 70 from New York, 
7 from Boston, and five from Baltimore. Europe sent us 88, 
including 72 from Great Britain, and 8 each from Germany 
and France. Australia sent us 77 ; China and Japan, 80 ; the 
East Indies, 38 ; South America, 122; and Polynesia, 68. 
The American ports on the Atlantic do not occupy a very 
prominent place in our seaAvard commerce. 

§ 122. Currency. — The currency of all branches of com- 
merce and industry, and of the State and County Treasuries 
in California, is gold. Treasury notes are used for paying in- 



COMMERCE. 165 

ternal revenue taxes, and for a few other purposes, but are 
treated as merchandise, and are quoted in the market reports 
at a discount. Some over-wise people have told us that the 
State has been greatly injured by adherence to a gold curren- 
cy, and their chief reason is that men are unwilling to move 
from the Eastern States to California if they must give $10,- 
000 of their money for $9,000 or $8,500 of ours. This would 
imply that California should sacrifice ten or fifteen per cent, of 
her property as a condition of exchanging a perfectly safe and 
stable currency for unsafe and unstable greenbacks. Asser- 
tions have been made that the gold standard has been retained 
here because of the influence of a small ring of capitalists in 
San Francisco, but such a statement needs no refutation among 
men familiar with business. Every contract is made inde- 
pendently, and the currency is usually gold, because every- 
body finds it preferable. 

The coin consists chiefly of the double-eagle, or piece of 
$20, The coinage of the San Francisco Mint, in 1872, was 
$16,380,000, including $15,600,000 in double-eagles; $300,- 
000 in eagles, half-eagles, and quarter-eagles ; $29,000 in half- 
dollars, $26,000 iu quarter-dollars, $19,000 in dimes, and $3,- 
600 in half-dimes. These figures may be accepted as fair an- 
nual averages. The silver coinage is only two per cent, of 
the whole sum, and the amount of half dollars, the lai-gest 
silver coin in common use, is more than three times as great 
as that of all the smaller coins together ; while the average of 
double-eagles is fifty times greater than that of all the smaller 
gold pieces. For payments of twenty dollars, or more, the 
double-eagles are generally used. No copper or nickel money 
is coined or current, and half-dimes, the smallest coins, are 
not very common. 

§ 123, Wealth of the State. — According to the State as- 
sessment, which purports to be made at the cash value, the tax- 
able property in the State amounted, in 1873, to $527,000,000, 
including $212,000,000 in San Francisco, $25,000,000 iu Ala- 



16Q RESOURCES 07 CAL5F0RI?nA. 

mecla, $27,000,000 in Sauta Clara, $20,000,000 in Sacramento^ 
$18,000,000 in San Joaquin, $16,000,000 in Sonoma, and 
$11,000,000 in ^lonterey; $9,000,000 each in Los Angeles^ 
Solano, and !^an Mateo, $8,000,000 in jMarin and Yolo, and 
smaller sums in the other counties. 

Alameda, San Mateo, and Marin owe their valuations, to a 
great extent, to their position as prcsent or prospective sub- 
urbs of San Francisco; and the city with its suburbs con- 
tains more than half the taxable property of the State. But in 
addition to their possessions in and i^iear tho city, the inliabitants 
and business men of Sau Francisco ovfu large tracts of land^ 
many mines, saw-mills, irrigating and mining ditches, gas and 
water works, elsewhere, and the total value of their property 
is not less than $400,000,000. 

The banldng capital of the State in 1873 amounted to about 
$80,000,000, including $45,000,000 in savings banks in Sau. 
Francisco, and $9,000,000 in savings banks in interior towns. 
The savings banks make long loans — mostly of a year or more, 
secured by mortgage at rates varying from nine to twelve per 
cent, per annum. The insurance com})anies also loan their 
money on mortgage. The commercial banks obtain from one 
to one and a half per cent, per month, for one or two months, 
on promissory notes secured by endorsement, or by the pledge 
of collateral securities, among which mmiug .stocks occupy a 
prominent place. 

The dividends paid in San Francisco by incorporated com- 
panies in 1873, amounted to $20,000,000, including $13,300,000 
by mining companies, $3,700,000 by savings banks, $1,000,.000 
by commercial banks, $480,000 by the water company, 
$410,000 by the gas company, and $227,000 by insurance 
companies, 

§ 124. Mining Stocks. — The stock market in San Francis- 
co is very active, and owes much of its profit to the silver 
mines of Nevada. The sales of mining shares, in one board 
of brokers, amoimted to $140,000,000 in 1873, $189,000,000 



COMMERCE. 167 

in 1872, $129,000,000 in 1871, $51,000,000 in 1870, and $69,- 
000,000 in 1869. 

The gross market value of shares in the mines of the Corn- 
stock Lode has ranged from $15,000,000 to $80,000,000, and 
the change from the lower to the upper limit has sometimes 
occurred within a few months, making an intense excitement 
in business. Thus, in the beginning of January, 1872, the 
shares of the thirteen leading'mines of the Comstock Lode were 
selling at rates indicating that the entire value of these mines 
was $17,000,000, and five months later they were selling at 
the rate of $81,000,000. The shares of the Crown Point 
mine were sold in May at $1,450 each, and as there are 12,000 
shares, the whole mine was then valued at $17,000,000, The 
Belcher, at the same time, was held at $16,000,000. Before 
the end of summer, the $80,000,000 had fallen back to $30,. 
000,000, indicating a loss of $50,000,000 to the people who 
did not sell when the prices were at the highest. This was 
the most remarkable stock excitement in the history of San 
Francisco ; but a fall of twenty-five per cent, in the mar- 
ket value of a mine, within a week, is common. One hundred 
and fifty difterent mines are on the stock list, including fifty 
on the Comstock Lode, sixty more in other parts of Nevada, 
eighteen in California, eight in Idaho, and two in Utah. The 
gross amount of the sales is seldom less than $1 ,000,000, and 
once exceeded $10,000,000 in a week. It is evident, that with 
such sales and such fluctuations, many fortunes must be lost 
and won every year. 

The fluctuations become credible when we consider the 
amounts of dividends and assessments paid within twelve years 
in a city that has now 180,000 inhabitants. The Bullion Com- 
pany has paid $1,700,000 of assessments, the Overman $900,- 
000, the Consolidated Virginia $200,000, the Segregated 
Belcher $200,000, and eight others $658,000, making $3,600,- 
000 in all by twelve companies, not one of which has ever 
paid a dividend. The Yellow Jacket has paid $1,500,000, 



168 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

the Ophir $1,200,000, the Hale & Norcross and the Gould & 
Curry each $800,000, and the Crown Point and Belcher each 
$600,000 of assessments ; but all these have paid more divi- 
dends than assessments — in some cases several millions more. 
The total amount of assessments paid by the Comstock min- 
ing companies has been $14,000,000, and dividends $35,000,- 
000, leaving a nice surplus on the profit side. 

Mining is an uncertain business, and mines, when managed 
in the most competent manner, rapidly change in value. The 
opening, or the unexpected exhaustion of a rich body of ore, 
may give or take away great value within a few weeks. But 
the stock market in San Francisco is not governed, though it 
is influenced, by the condition of the mines. The prices are 
determined, to a great extent, by folly and dishonesty. Out 
of the one hundred and fifty mines on the stock list, not ten 
are now paying dividends, and four-fifths, though worked for 
years, have never paid a dividend. Yet any one of these un- 
profitable mines may strike a rich body of ore ; and so long as 
they continue to work, the officers circulate encouraging re- 
ports, and the stock fluctuates in market price. If a body of 
ore be struck, the fact of the discovery may be concealed, or 
its nature misrepresented, for the purpose of defrauding the 
shareholders, by inducing them to buy or sell. The superin- 
tendent holds his place at the mercy of the trustees, and they 
often require him to inform them privately of any change in 
the mine several days before it is announced publicly, so 
they can make something. If he has a rich body of ore, he 
manages to pay very large dividends for several months, and 
asserts that he can continue them for a long time, and then 
the stock goes up ; or he keeps his men out of the good ore, 
and sends poor stufl" to mill, so that an assessment is levied, 
and then the stock goes down. In either case, the outsiders 
are swindled. These are only a few of tlie numerous tricks 
common among the mining sharps, and he who deals with 
them, does so with greater risk and yviih less chance of fair 
dealing than when he sits down at the faro table. 



I 



COMMERCE. 169 

§ 125. Large Estates. — The following is a list of the 
landed estates of more than 100,000 acres each, (some of them 
are scattered tracts) in California, viz : Miller & Lux, 228,000 
acres ; the Philadelphia and California Petroleum Company, 
160,000 ; Mary E. Beale, 173,000 ; Charles McLaughlin, 141,- 
000; L Friedlander, 125,000; Los Angeles Land Company, 
101,000. 

In San Diego County, John Forster has 88,000 acres ; and 
Miguel Pedroreno, 47,000 ; in Los Angeles, the L. A. Land 
Company, 101,000; Irvine, Fhut & Co., 77,000; Pioche & 
Bayerque, 69,000 ; E. de Celis, 56,000 ; Beale & Baker, 53,000 ; 
James Lick, 51,000. In San Bernardino, the San Jacinto Tin 
Mining Company, 48,000 ; Alfred Robinson, trustee, 42,000. 
In Santa Barbara, the Pliiladelphia and Petroleum Land Com- 
pany, 131,000; Dibblee & Hollister, 97,000; A. P. Moore, 
63,000 ; Santa Cruz Island Company, 53,000 ; H. & W. Pierce, 
53,000 ; J. W. Moore, 48,000 ; L. T. Barton, 47,000 ; E.Con- 
way, 42,000 ; Hollister & Cooper, 41 ,000. In San Luis Obispo, 
P. \y. Murphy, 54,000 ; and F. Steele, 44,000. In Monterey, 
the estate of Arques, 71,000 ; J. D. Carr, 47,000 ; and JNliller 
& Lux, 41,000. In Alameda, Charles McLaughlin, 60,000. 
In San Joaquin, the Tide Land Reclamation Company, 77,000 ; 
Charles McLaughlin, 54,000. In Kern, Mary E. Beale, 173,- 
000 ; Chapman, Jansen & Roebing, 75,000 ; A. Weill, 48,000 ; 
and J. H. Redington, 45,000, In Fresno, the San Joaquin Val- 
ley Land Association, 79,000 ; L Friedlander, 62,000 ; E. 
Applegarth, 49,000; J. W. Pedree, 47,000 ; W. C. Ralston, 
44,000 ; and E. St. John & Co., 42,000. In Merced, Miller & 
Lux, 166,000 ; C. Paige, 60,000 ; and J. W. Mitchell, 42,000. 
In Marijwsa, the Mariposa Land and Mining Company, 44,000. 
In Sacramento, Lloyd Tevis, 43,000 ; in Colusa, the California 
and Oregon Railroad Company, 61,000 ; and in Mendocino, 
Throckmorton & McKinstry, 83,000. The number of these 
estates over 40,000 acres is forty-four, in the State, so far as 
reported ; the number between 30,000 and 40,000 acres is 



170 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

twenty-three ; tliose between 20,000 and 30,000, are fifty-five ; 
those between 10,000 and 20,000 acres are one lunidred and 
forty-eight ; and those between 5,000 and 10,000 acres, two 
hundred and thirty-eight. The entire number of tliese estates 
of more tlian 5,000 acres each, is four hundred and fifty-three. 
Most of them are held under Mexican grants, and probably 
one-third or one-fourth imder purchase from the American 
government. Several railroad companies, which own large 
tracts, do not appear in the list, 

§ 126. Railroads. — The following is a list of the railroads 
completed in California. 

The (original) Central Pacific, from Sacramento to Ogden, 
748 miles. 

The original Western Pacific, now consolidated witli the 
Central Pacific, from Oakland to Sacramento, 135 miles; and 
from Niles' to San Jose, 18 miles. 

The original Oakland City Railroad, now consolidated with 
the Central Pacific, from Oakland to Brooklyn, 5 miles. 

The original San Joaquin Valley Railroad, now consolidated 
with the Central Pacific, from Lathrop to Goshen, 146 miles. 

The original California and Oregon Railroad, now consoli- 
dated with the Central Pacific, from Junction (or Roseville) 
to Redding, 152 miles. 

The original Alameda Valley Railroad, now consolidated 
with the Central Pacific, from Alameda to Hay ward, 11 
miles. 

The main line of the Central Pacific, from Oakland to 
Osden, is 878 miles, and there are 337 miles of branches : and 
including three miles of ferry between Oakland and San Fran- 
cisco, and five miles between Alameda and San Francisco, the 
total length of the routes of the Central Pacific is 1,226 miles. 
On the main line of the Central Pacific, from Oakland to the 
State line, there are 275 miles in California. 

The California Pacific Road, from Vallejo to Sacramento, 
60 miles. 



COMMERCE. 171 

The Napa branch of the California Pacific Railroad, from 
Napa Junction to Calistoga, 35 miles. 

The Marysville branch of the California Pacific Railroad, 
from Davisville to Marysville, 44 miles ; but of this distance, 
20 miles is not now in running order. 

The Los Angeles and Wilmington Railroad is 21 miles 
long. 

The San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad Company 
have a railroad 56 miles long, connecting Donahue with Clov- 
erdale. 

The Stockton and Copperopolis and Visalia Company have 
a railroad of 30 miles, from Stockton to Milton, and another 
of 19 miles, from Peters to Oakdale. 

The Southern Pacific Railroad Company have a railroad 94 
miles, from San Francisco to Hollister ; a branch railroad from 
Carnadero to Salinas, 38 miles ; a railroad from Goslien to 
Delano, 50 ; and 50 miles from San Fernando to Rubottom. 

The Sacramento Valley Railroad, from Sacramento to 
Shingle Springs, is 49 miles long. 

Tlie raih'oad routes above o-iven, asro-i-eo-atinoc 1,671 miles, 
are nnder tlie control of the gentlemen who compose the Cen- 
tral Pacific Railroad Company, Of the Central Pacific main 
line, 605 miles are in Nevada and Utah, leaving 1,036 miles 
of its main road and branches in California, now completed. 

The Northern California Railroad, from Marysville to Oro- 
ville, is 26 miles long. 

The Pittsburg and Black Diamond Railroad^ connecting the 
Monte Diablo coal mines with Antioch, is 7 miles long. 

The San Rafael and San Quentin Railroad is 3i miles long. 

The total length of the steam railroads in California is 1,1651 
miles. 

The San Francisco and North Pacific Coast Railroad Com- 
pany is now constructing a railroad with a gauge of three feet, 
to run from Saucelito to Bodega, by way of San Rafael, and 
promises to have the cars running to San Rafael before mid- 
summer of 1874. 



172 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

Tlie Southern Pacific Railroad Company has promised to 
build twenty-five miles of railroad, from Los Angeles to Ana- 
heim, within two years, and has commenced the work. 

Congress has given 12,800 acres per mile, for a continuous 
railroad from Sacramento to Portland, and 170 miles of the 
road in California, and 203 in Oregon, are in running order, 
leaving a gap of 209 miles unfinished between Redding and 
Roseburg. Short as is the gap, and valuable as are the roads 
in the Sacramento and Willamette Valleys, with considerable 
bodies of rich land in the Klamath and Rogue Valleys, yet 
the progress of the work is very slow, and fears are enter- 
tained that the connection will not be completed for some 
years. The work is entrusted to two companies, one in Oregon 
and one in California, and each is required to finish twenty 
miles every year, and to reach the line before 1876. 

Congress has granted to the Texas and Pacific Railroad, 
12,800 acres per mile along its route in California, and 25,000 
acres per mile ni Arizona and New Mexico. In Texas the 
land is the property of the State, and the Legislature has given 
a large quantity, enough, it is said, to secure the comple- 
tion of the road from Marshall to the western border. The 
distance from San Diego to Galveston is 1,500 miles, whereas 
that from San Francisco to New York, by the Middle Pacific, 
is 3,300. But from San Francisco to New York by way of 
San Diego and Marshall, the distance is 3, GOO miles. The 
grades on the Texas and Pacific are better than on the Middle 
Pacific, and there is no danger of snow. An Act of Congress, 
passed on the 2d of May, 1872, provides that not less than 
one hundred miles must be built annually, from Marshall west- 
ward, and not less than ten miles before the 2d of May, 1874, 
and after that twenty-five miles a year from San Diego east- 
ward, and that the whole road shall be finislied before the 
2d of May, 1882. Congress has granted to the Atlantic and 
Pacific Railroad Company a subsidy of 25,600 acres per mile, 
for a railroad from the southern line of Missouri to Fort Mo- 



COMMERCE. 173 

jave on the Colorado River, and 12,800 acres per mile for the 
extension of tlie road from that point to some convenient point 
on the Pacific ocean, A subsidy of 12,800 acres per mile has 
also been given to the Southern Pacific Railroad Company of 
California for a branch road to run from San Jose, to con- 
nect at Fort Mojave \vith the main road of the Atlantic and 
Pacific. 

§ 127. Railroad Termimis. — The question of the main 
terminus of the railroad system of the State is not yet settled ; 
although five years have elapsed since the cars from the Mis- 
souri River began to run regularly to Sacramento. San Fran- 
cisco, having all the importing business, all the exporting 
houses, all the first-class wholesale houses, and nearly all the 
banking and insurance capital of the State, was, so far as the 
concentration of business and business men could make it, 
the proper terminus for the road. But it had the serious dis- 
advantao-e of beingj cut off from Sacramento — the inland 
business center of the State — by swamps, mountains, and 
bays. Tlie distance from Sacramento to San Francisco, in a 
direct line, is seventy-six miles ; to Oakland, by rail through 
Livermore Pass, 135 ; to San Francisco, via Livermore Pass 
and San Jose (the only rail route to San Francisco) 178 miles ; 
to Oakland, by Stockton, Bantas, and Martinez, (road not 
yet made) 148 ; to San Francisco via Bantas, Martinez, Oak- 
land and San Jose, 248 ; to San Francisco, via Bantas, Mar- 
tinez, Oakland, and j^rojected bridge across the bay at Rav- 
enswood, 208 miles. 

After the completion of the road to San Francisco, various 
plans were considered to bring the cars into the city. A bridge 
across the Bay from Oakland, a bridge across the Bay at Rav- 
enswood, thirty miles to the south, a bridge to Goat Island, 
which is only a mile and a half from the city, were all pro- 
posed, discussed, strenuously opposed on various grounds of 
public interest, and all have now been given up, or, at least, 
allowed to drop, as if finally abandoned. It is generally ad- 



174 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

mittecl tlmt the cars cannot be brouglit into San Francisco 
with a profit, by rail, but they may be brouglit across the Bay 
in large ferry-boats ; and one has been built to carry twenty 
cars at a load, and it is supposed that this may accommodate 
the business. If, however, it be necessary, for heavy freight, 
that the cars should meet the ships at deep water, without the 
intervention of a ferry-boat, then an important rail terminus 
may be either at Oakland, (after an artificial harbor shall be 
made there) at Vallejo, where nature has provided a good 
harbor, a good upland site for a city, and good water front 
for more than half a mile, at Benicia, at Martinez, or Sauce- 
lito. Tiie last place has many advantages of position, but its 
site is composed of high, steep hills. Oakland is 144 miles 
from Sacramento, by Stockton, Bantas, and Martinez, the level 
route ; and Vallejo is GO miles in distance, and ten miles more 
by difficulty of grade (having an elevation of 200 feet to pass) 
from Sacramento. Freight can be carried from Sacramento 
to the ship at Vallejo for one-half the price to Oakland. 
Saucelito might be reached from Vallejo by a road thirty 
miles long, but there is no present probability of its construc- 
tion. The completion of the railroad from Bantas, by way of 
Martinez, to Oakland, would make a concentration of chan- 
nels of communication at Carquinez Straits, or the Silver Gate 
of California, requiring every car or ship, going and coming 
between the great Sacramento-San Joaquin Basin and the sea, 
to pass that point. 

§ 128. Ocean Steamers. — All the ocean steamers of Califor- 
nia ply from San Francisco. The following is a brief schedule 
of their routes and times of departure : 

Twice a month for Panama; there connecting bv the Isth- 
mus Kailroad with New York, and touching on the Pacific 
side, on her southward course, at San Diego, Mazatlan, Man- 
zanillo, and Acapulco. At the last-named port, one steamer 
each month connects with a branch steamer for various Central 
American ports. 



COMMERCE. 175 

Twice every month for Yokohama, connecting there with a 
brancli steamer for Ilong Kong, toucliing at Iliogo and Na- 
gasaki by the way. 

Once a month for Honoluhi. 

Once a month for Guayraas, touching at Magdalena Bay, 
Cai^e San Lucas, La Paz, and Mazatlan. 

Twice a month for Victoria, connecting there with steamers 
for Paget Sound. 

Once a week for Portland, connecting there with steamers 
for Puget Sound and Sitka. 

At intervals of five days, for San Diego, touching at Santa 
Barbara and San Pedro, 

At intervals of ten days, for Santa Barbara, touching at 
Monterey, San Simeon, and San Luis Obispo. 

Once a week for Tomales and Olema. 

Once a week for Salinas and Santa Cruz. 

Once a week for Hueneme, touching at San Buenaventura. 

Once a month for Hong Kong direct, by a British line. 

Once a month for Hong Kong direct, by a German line, not 
yet in full operation. 

Once a month to Auckland and Sydney, by a line for which 
a contract has been made, but not yet established. 

The steamers of the Pacific Mail Company, running from 
San Francisco to Jajjan, number ten, with 39,000 tons; to 
Panama, seven, with 19,000 tons; to San Diego, four, with 
3,200 tons ; to Honolulu, one, with 1,300 tons ; and to Guay- 
mas, one, with 800 tons, making twenty-three steamers in all, 
with 62,300 tons. 

§ 129. Telegraphs. — The magnetic telegrajih connects all 
the main towns of the Coast, extending from Vancouver 
Island, through Washington, Oregon, and California, to Tucson, 
Arizona. West of the main ridge of tlie Coast Mountains, in 
Cahfornia, the wires do not extend northward from San Fran- 
cisco beyond Cloverdale, but will probably soon be taken 
on to Humboldt Bay. Two lines connect San Francisco with 



176 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

the Atlantic States. The present charge for ten words from 
San Francisco to New York is $2.50 ; to Vallejo or San Jose, 
25 cents ; to Sacramento or Stockton, 40 cents ; to Visalia, $1 ; 
to San Diego, $2. 

§ 130. Harbors. — San Francisco Bay, one of the finest 
bays in the world for the purposes of commerce, is about eight 
miles wide and fifty long, reaching from 37° 10' to 38°. Its 
entrance, called the Golden Gate, or Chrysopolis, is a mile 
T\^de, between 37° 48' and 37° 49'. The peninsulas which 
separate the bay from the ocean, are from six to fifteen miles 
wide. The water on the bar is thirty feet deep at low water ; 
inside much deeper, with excellent holding-ground, and room 
for all the shipping of the world. 

Connected with this bay, are those of San Pablo and Suisun, 
lying farther inland, on the course of the outlet of the waters 
of the Sacramento basin. San Pablo Bay is nearly round, 
about ten miles in diameter, and lies north of San Francisco 
Bay, with which it is connected by an unnamed strait, about 
three miles wide. Suisun Bay, about four miles wide by eight 
long, lies eastward of San Pablo Bay, with which it is con- 
nected by the Strait of Carquinez, which is a mile wide. Both 
bays are deep, but the water in the strait is only sixteen feet 
deep at low tide, and large vessels cannot ascend beyond it. 
Benicia, on the bank of the strait, is the head of navigation 
for shipjDing of the largest class, has a large and secure harbor, 
accessible at low tide for vessels drawing twenty-two feet, 
and at high water for those drawing twenty-seven. Five miles 
west of Benicia, Napa River enters San Pablo Bay, making 
Vallejo Bay, which is 400 yards wide and four miles long, 
with a depth of 26 feet. Martinez, opposite Benicia, and 
Oakland, opposite San Francisco, are cut off from deep 
water by mud flats. At Oakland a wharf has been built out 
a mile and a half, to reach a point accessible by large vessels. 

The Bay of San Diego, twelve miles long, from one to two 
miles wide, and crescent-shaped, running from the entrance, 



COMMERCE, 177 

and then turning to the southeastward, is a magnificent liar- 
bor. A cliannel, thirty feet deep and half a mile wide, ex- 
tends mi >re than half the length of the Bay, from the entrance. 
The holding-ground is good ; the protection from the winds 
perfect. There is no difficulty in entering at any time, but it 
is not safe for sailing vessels to go out during gales from the 
southeast. 

In latitude 34° 38',thirty-five miles southeastward from Los 
Angeles, is a land-locked estuary, about eight miles long and 
from half a mile to a mile wide. It has not been survej^ed, 
and its value for commerce is not known ; but there has been 
some talk lately of using it as a port for some of the. adjacent 
towns. The entrance is not more than ten feet deep, and 
probably not so deep as that. 

Of the open harbors, that of Crescent City is the most 
northern, in latitude 41° 44'. It lies on the southern side of a 
rocky point that juts out about half a mile in a westward 
direction, at right angles to the general line of the coast. The 
harbor is small and shallow, Avith a bottom of sand and rocks. 
Vessels drawing twelve feet of water lie nearly lialf a mile 
from the shore. The harbor is safe while the wind blows from 
the north and northwest, but is very dangerous when it blows 
from the southward. The harbor might be made much more 
safe by a breakwater, at a cost of one or two millions of dol- 
lars. 

Trinidad, in 41° 03', is a very small harbor, open to the 
south, with deep water and excellent holding -ground. 

Bodega Bay, in 38° 18', has nine feet of water, and opens 
to the southward, so that the anchorage is secui-e only while 
the wind blows from the nortli. Tomales Bay, just opposite, 
opens into the southern part of Bodega Bay, and is only five 
miles distant from the Bodega anchorage : and, as one is se- 
cure against northern and the other against southern winds, 
vessels are safe in all weathers, because they can easily run 
across to whichever may prove the sheltered side. 
12 



178 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

Tomales Bay is fourteen miles long and two miles wide, 
separated from the ocean by a strip of land a mile and a balf 
wide. Its mouth is in 38° 15'. Its course is southeastward, 
and it is open to the northwest winds. The water is about 
twelve feet deep. Tomales Bay is surrounded by hills, and is 
of little value for commerce. 

The Bay of Sir Francis Drake, in latitude 38°, is small, 
open to the south, and of no value to commerce. 

Half-Moon Bay is a small roadstead, eighteen miles south of 
the Golden Gate. 

Santa Cruz Harbor, on the northern side of Monterey Bay, 
in 36° 57'j is small, has four fathoms of water, a sandy bottom, 
and is open to the south. 

Twelve miles farther south is the mouth of the Salinas River, 
which is about two hundred yards wide, and has seven feet of 
water. It is entered by small schooners, with the help of a 
eteam-tug. 

Eight miles farther to the southward is the harbor of Mon- 
terey, which is large and deep, and has good holding ground. 
It is open to the north. 

San Simeon Harbor, in 35° 38', has a good anchorage, and 
is safe while the wind blows from the north ; but it offers no 
protection against storms from the southward. The bottom 
is sandy. 

San Luis Obispo Harbor, in 35° 10', has a good anchorage, 
safe at all times, except during storms from the southward. 

Santa Barbara, in 34° 24', has an open harbor, exposed to 
the south winds. The water is deep, and the bottom hard. 

San Pedro, in 33° 43', is open to the south, but probably 
might be made secure by a breakwater, to cost one million of 
dollars. The bottom is hard. 

At Wilmington, about five miles east of San Pedro, the con- 
struction of a breakwater to provide an artificial harbor has 
been commenced. 

Humboldt Bay is twelve miles long, from two to five miles 
wide, and is separated from the Pacific by two tongues of 



COMMERCE. 179 

land, which are covered by high and dense timber, and offer 
an excellent protection against the strong winds of the coast. 
The month of the bay, in latitude 40° 44', is a mile across, but 
has breakers on each side ; and between them is a channel, a 
qnai'ter of a mile wide, with about eighteen feet of water at 
low tide. The greater part of the bay is shallow, but there is 
an abundance of dee^i water, with good anchorage and perfect 
safety for shipping. The entrance is considered dangerous, 
and a steam-tug escorts nearly all sailing-vessels in and out. 

The difference between extreme high tide and extreme low 
tide is about nine feet at Crescent City, eight feet at San 
Francisco, and seven feet at San Diego. The mean difference 
between the highest tide and the lowest low tide in one day, 
at San Francisco, is less than six feet. 

George Davidson, of the U. S. Coast Survey, in his Coast 
Pilot, says : " As a general rule there are, upon the Pacific 
Coast of the United States, one large and one small tide dur- 
ing each day. * * * The corrected establishment, or mean 
intervals between the moon's transit and the time of high 
water at Fort Point, San Francisco Bay, is 12 hours, 6 min- 
utes." 

§ 131. Navigable Streams. — The Sacramento River is nav- 
igable for steamers drawing three feet of water, to Sacramento 
City, and to Red Bluff for boats drawing fifteen inches. The 
Feather River is navigated by steamers drawing fifteen inches, 
to Marysville, seventy -five miles from Sacramento ; and boats 
have ascended to Oroville, twenty-five miles farther. Steam- 
ers drawing five feet can run regularly to Stockton, on the San 
Joaquin, a distance of one hundred and thirty miles from .San 
Francisco ; and in times of high water, a boat drawing about 
fifteen inches ascends to Fresno City, one hundred and fifty 
miles fartlicr. A number of sloughs or tide-water creeks, 
navigable for small vessels, open into the bays of San Fran- 
cisco, San Pablo, and Suisun. The most notable of these are 
the Alviso or Guadalupe slough, at the head of San Francisco 



180 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

Bay ; the San Antonio slough, opposite San Francisco city ; 
the Petaluma, Sonoma, and Napa sloughs, opening into San 
Pablo Bay ; and Suisun and Pacheco sloughs, opening into 
Suisun Bay. 

The navigation of the Colorado is beset by many diiliculties. 
The tide rises 28 feet at the mouth of the river, and some- 
times advances with an immense bore or wave, which is dan- 
gerous to small vessels. In the lower part of tlie river the 
sand-bars are numerous, and they frequently shift their posi- 
tions. The transportation is done by small tug steamers, draw- 
ing about two feet of water, the freight being placed on 
barges. The boats tie up to the bank in the evening, to avoid 
the risk of running in the dark. The distances from the 
mouth of the river, or Victoria Bay, are 150 miles to Fort 
Yuma, 453 miles to Hardy^'ille, and 543 miles to Callville. 
The last point is the head of possible navigation, and there 
the ordinary surface of the stream is 780 feet above the sea, 
showing an average descent of about a foot and five inches to 
the mile. Hardyville is the actual head of navigation, and 
steamers usually take ten days for the trip from the mouth of 
the river. * 

The State has at present one navigable canal, built mainly 
for the purpose of irrigation, but little use is made of it. Sev- 
eral large canals M'ill undoubtedly be constructed within a 
few years. 

§ 132. J*asses. — Tlie passes on the mountains which fence in 
the valleys of California are important elements in determin- 
ing the course which commerce must take. Among the passes 
in th^ Coast Range, are the following : 

PASSES. EliEVATION. LATITUDE. 

dfig. min. 

Livermore Pass 686 37 42 

Pacheco Pass 37 00 

Panoche Pass 

Cajon de Tenoco Pass 34 40 

San Francisqmto Pass 3>437 34 35 



COMMERCE. 181 

PASSES. EI;EVATION. LATITUDE. 

dog. min. 

Williamson's Pass 3,164 34 3° 

CajonPass 4,676 34 10 

San Gorgonio Pass 2,808 33 55 

Warner's Pass 3,7So 33 lO 

Santa Margarita Pass 1,35° 35 20 

San Pernando Pass 1,956 34 20 

The following are the principal passes in the Sierra Nevada, 
commencing at the north : 

NAME. ELEVATION. LATITUDE. 

deg. min. 

Lassen's Pass 41 5° 

Fredonyer Pass 40 25 

Beckwourth Pass 5,3^9 39 45 

Luba Pass 6,642 39 38 

Henness Pass 6,996 39 30 

Donner Pass 7,056 39 20 

Georgetown Pass 7, 1 19 39 10 

Johnson Pass 7,339 3^ 5° 

Carson Pass 8,759 38 45 

Silver Pass 8,793 3^ 3° 

Sonora Pass 10,115 3^ 10 

Mono Pass 10,765 37 55 

Slate Pass 12,400 37 28 

Whitney Pass 12,057 36 32 

Walker Pass 5,302 35 40 

Humpayamup Pass 5,356 35 35 

Tehachepe Pass 4,020 35 ID 

Tejon Pass 5,285 35 00 

Uvas Pass 4,256 34 50 



182 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 



CHAPTER Vn. 

MANUFACTURES, ETC. 

§ 133. Coarse Work. — Among manufactures are here in- 
cluded lumberinrj, fishino; and hantino^, l)re\nnof and the dis- 
tillation of spirits generally ; but tlie making of wine and the 
distillation of brandy are treated under the head of Agricul- 
ture, and the reduction of ores as part of Mining. The man- 
ufactures of California are mostly of a coarse class, requiring 
little labor, relatively, and much raw material, and of classes 
costing much, relatively, for importation. Our blankets and 
coarse flannels are of home manufacture, our broadcloths 
and merinos are imported. We make wrapping, but not let- 
ter paper. We have factories to make wine and pickle-bottles, 
but not plate or cut-glass. Having a large supply of hides, 
lead, M'hcat, barlej', and grease, we find it cheaper to make 
our leather, lead-pipe, shot, flour, beer, and soap, than to send 
the raw material 19,000 miles by sea to the shops in the At- 
lantic, and pay for manufacture there and for freighting both 
"ways. But our finest leather, our most costly malt liquors, 
and our most esteemed toilet soaps, come from abroad. Nitric 
and sulpliuric acids, matches, dynamite and blasting powder, 
are made here, because the freight on them round Cape Horn 
is very high. Their dangerous character forbids long trans- 
portation. We refine our sugar, because we get most of it 
from the Hawaiian and Philippine Islands. Our wire-rope is 
produced here, because it must be made to order and deliver- 
ed promptly ; mirrors are silvered here, because the process is 



MANUFACTURES, ETC. 183 

simple, and the foreign mirrors are frequently injured in trans- 
portation. We produce no manufactures for exportation, and 
many years may elapse before we supply the finer articles 
needed for home consumption. 

§ 134. Obstacles. — The lack of water-power near the me- 
tropolis, the high price of transportation, the dearness of fresh 
water in our large towns, and the high price of land suitable 
for factory sites near a deep water-front in secm-e harbors, all 
tend to increase the difficulties of manufacturing. The high 
rate of wages, however, is the chief obstacle. This is felt at 
once, at the very beginning of every enterprise, and is much 
more oppressive in many branches than all the other obstacles 
together. The exj^enses of living are less here than in the 
Eastern States ; and in no city on the Atlantic slope can so 
much comfort and enjoyment be obtained for the same money 
as in San Francisco. The extreme heat of summer, the cold 
of winter, and the diseases which they bring upon the poor, 
make a great difference against Eastern cities. There is no 
good reason why labor should not be as cheap here as beyond 
the Rocky Mountains, except that, on account of the lack of 
manufactures and of irrigating ditches, there is not sufficient 
regularity of employment. At favorable seasons the demand 
for laborers in the mines and farming districts exceeds the sup- 
ply, and the excessive competition of employers at such times, 
and the idleness of laborers at others, equally tend to keep 
up wages. 

The interest of the State demands the payment of the high- 
est wages at which the employer can afford to find work for 
all white applicants ; but a rate so high that it prevents the es- 
tablishment of manufactories, and leaves a considerable part of 
the people without occupation during three or four months ev- 
ery year, repels immigration, keeps down the value of land, 
hampers commerce and agriculture, and is one of the most se- 
rious misfortunes that can befall a State. 

Our agricultural and mining industries have reached ad- 
vanced development in some branches, while our manufactures 



184 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

are backward. Tlie chief working force of tlie world is now 
steam,- and the State which reUes mainly on its human muscle, 
as California does, is at a great disadvantage. We not only 
lose the profit on the steam-engines, and that on the 
wages of the skilled operatives, but we condemn ourselves 
to the production of raw material — the most unprofitable of 
all occupations — pay freight on raw material to Atlantic ports, 
and on the manufactured articles back, deprive our land-own- 
ers of the rent of factories and dwellings for factory laborers, 
and leave our farmers withoiit a home market. "We send our 
wool, hides, leather, bones, horns, and mustard to distant 
countries, and receive one-third of them in a manufactured 
condition — another third going to pay the manufacturers, 
middlemen, and shippers. 

Prominent among the obstacles to the development of our 
own manufactures, is the lack of cheap coal, iron, and hard 
wood. The western slope of the continent does not, so far as 
known, produce any first-rate mineral coal, which is the basis 
of mechanical power. Such coal as we have in California is 
not abundant, nor is its extraction very clieap. Iron ore of 
excellent quality we have, but dear transportation and dear 
coal prevent the erection of furnaces, and we import all our 
iron from Atlantic poits. Tough hard wood (such as oak, 
ash, and hickory, fit for wagons, cars, agricultural implements, 
and strong casks) is imported from the Eastern States. Tlie 
imsettled state of society, the insecurity of land titles, and the 
frequency of land suits, tend to repel capital and keep up the 
rates of interest, which are so high that manufacturers cannot 
afibrd to pay the current rates. Yet, if large maimfacturing 
establishments oflered an unexceptionable security, they could 
probably borrow at the rates slightly in advance of those cur- 
rent in England. 

§ 135. Statistics. — According to the Federal census, Califor- 
nia had, in 1870,3,984 manufacturing establishments, emi)loy- 
ing 25,392 persons and $40,000,000 capital, paying out $13,- 



MANUFACTURES, ETC. 185 

000,000 for wages, and $35,000,000 for raw material, and 
turning out products worth $66,000,000 annually. The wages* 
raw material, and ten per cent, on the capital invested, added 
together, make $52,000,000, leaving $14,000,000 as annual 
profit, above a low rate of interest on the money. 

The number of steam engines is 604, with 18,493 horse- 
power, and of water-wheels, 271, with 6,877 horse-power, or 
a total of 25,370 horse-power ; and, as each of these is equal 
to ten men, the machine power considerably exceeds that of 
the adult male residents of the State. 

The chief manufactured products are : flour, $8,000,000 ; 
lumber, $6,000,000 ; sugar and machinery, each $4,000,000 ; 
quartz gold, $3,400,000; printed work, $2,200,000; cigars, 
$1,900,000; clothing, $1,800,000; malt liquors, $1,600,000 ; 
boots and shoes, $1,500,000 ; iron castings, $1,300,000; car- 
riages and wagons, $1,300,000; bread and woolen goods, each 
$1,200,000 ; and harness, quicksilver, and distilled liquors, 
each $1,000,000. The quartz mills and quicksilver reduction 
works do not properly come under the head of manufactur- 
ing establishments, and their production is underestimated. 

Move than half of the manufacturing industry of California 
is in San Francisco, which produces $37,000,000 out of the 
$66,000,000 of annual product; pays $20,000,000 out of 
$35,000,000 for raw material, and $7,000,000 out of $13,000,- 
000 of wages; has $21,000,000 out of $40,000,000 capital, 
and 1,223 out of 3,984 manufacturing establishments. After 
San Francisco, in the amount of manufacturing product, are 
Sacramento, with $4,000,000 ; Santa Clara, with $2,300,000 ; 
Santa Cruz and Amador, each with $1,600,000 ; Sonoma, with 
$1,400,000; Yuba and Nevada, each with $1,300,000; Ala- 
meda, with $1,100,000 ; and Mendocino and San Joaquin, each 
with $1,000,000. 

§ 136. Wages. — There has been a gradual fall in the wages 
of labor since 1849. For instance, in that year the wages of 
good carpenters were sixteen dollars per day; in 1851, ten 



186 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

dollars; in 1853, seven dollars; in 1856, five dollars ; and 
now four dollars ; and there has been a similar decrease of 
wao-es in all those branches of labor much in demand. Tail- 
ors, shoemakers, and cabinet-makers have never received high 
wages, because little is done in their trades. Millers, caulkers, 
and shipwrights now get from four to six dollars per day ; 
bricklayers, stone masons, and plasterers, fi'om four to five dol- 
lars ; boiler-makers, machinists, and pattern-makers, four dol- 
lars ; carpenters, blacksmiths, and carriage-makers, from three 
to four dollars; house-painters, paper-hangers, and steve- 
dores, three dollars ; hodmen and washerwomen, two dollars; 
cotnmon white laborers, one dollar and seventy-five cents ; and 
Chinamen, from eighty cents to one dollar and a quarter. Of 
such pei'sons as are liired by tlie month and boarded, garden- 
ers get thirty-five dollars; farmers, teamsters, waiters, sailors, 
chambermaids, and seamstresses, twenty-five dollars. Clerks 
in stores get from thirty to sixty dollars, with boarding ; from 
fifty to one hundred dollars without boarding. The best 
miners, of the class called " drifters," who cut and blast tun- 
nels and dig shafts, get three or four dollars per day ; com- 
mon miners get fifty dollars a month and boarding. 

The policy of fixing wages so high that manufactures of 
home production cannot compete with those imported, that 
laborers cannot obtain steady employment, and tliat immi- 
grants are frightened ofl" by the cry that this is no country 
for a poor man, is the most pernicious one possible for the 
State as a whole, and for laborers as a class. Irregularity and 
uncertainty of employment are the greatest evils tliat can be- 
set poor men ; and inability to furnish employment to poor 
men, with profit to himself, is one of the most unfortunate 
conditions for a rich man. The general interest is best pi'o- 
moted when the poor man's labor and the rich man's money 
are always in active demand at a fair price ; and then poor 
men of intelligence, skill, and credit, svill frequently become 
employers, and by their intluence and example keep up a kind- 
ly feeling between the two classes. 



MANUFACTURES, ETC. 187 

§ 137. Navy Yard. — The only navy yard established by 
the American Government on the Pacific Coast, is at Mare 
Island, twenty miles northeastward from San Francisco, and 
it is destined to occnpy a prominent place in the manufactur- 
ing industry of California. The site is excellent in nearly 
every respect, and it will probably become the most impor- 
tant navy yard of the country. The work on t/ie Atlantic 
side is divided up between seven yards, and not one of them 
is fitted up properly. The report of the Secretary of the 
Navy for 1870 contains a report of Admiral Porter, who said: 

" Mare Island is destined in time of war to be the most im- 
portant of our dock-yards, and I therefore beg leave to invite 
your particular attention to it. It is evident that in the future 
all of our ships in the Pacific will have to depend upon the 
Mare Island Navy Yard for repairs. The passage around 
Cape Horn, at the end of a three years' cruise, should not be 
attempted, and it will be found much more economical to fit 
out vessels for Cliina, in California, by which they avoid the 
long passage around the Cape of Good Hope, via Brazil, or 
the troublesome and expensive one through the Suez Canal. 
By the Cape of Good Hope route, the passage from New York 
to Hong Kong cannot be made in less than one hundred and 
ten days, or by way of the Suez Canal in less than sixty-five 
days, while the voyage from San Francisco to the same point 
can be perfoi-med in twenty-eight days. This is at once an 
argument in favor of fitting vessels out at Mare Island for all 
parts of the Pacific and for the Asiatic coast. The argu- 
ment holds good also for laying the vessels up there, and they 
can reach California from the China seas quicker than they 
can the Eastern coast of America, to say nothing of the wear 
and tear of the longer voyage, and the anxiety of coming on 
our stormy coast in the winter, which they will escape. Sev- 
eral of the European powers are making preparations to es- 
tablish repairing stations in the East, if they have not already 
done so ; while we need not go to such an expense- if we pro- 



188 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

vide tlie facilities for repairing the different vessels at Mare 
Island." 

Our ships in commission — that is, in active duty — are 
divided into five squadrons. The Pacific, Asiatic, North At- 
lantic, and European squadrons, are of nearly equal force ; 
while the South Atlantic is of about half the force of either 
of the others. The vessels are fitted up to cruise for a period 
of three years. The men ai-e enlisted for that time, and the 
imperishable ammunition and stores are calculated to last for 
that period ; and as it takes many months for a ship to reach a 
distant station, if the cruises were shorter, most of the time 
would be lost in the outward and home voyages. For many 
years it was customary, on account of lack of supplies and 
machinery, and the high pi'ice of labor at Mare Island, to 
send the ships of the Pacific and Asiatic squadrons to Atlan- 
tic navy yards, to be refitted at the end of every cruise, tluis 
consuming about one year out of three, in a long, uncomfort- 
able, and useless voyage ; and most of the Asiatic ships still 
make that costly trip. All the war ships of the country sta- 
tioned in the Pacific hemisphere should be refitted at the Pa- 
cific Navy Yard, in the opinion of Admiral Porter, and the 
present Secretary of the Navy ; and when tlie Government 
acts on that opinion, and puts our navy on an equality, as to 
strength and efiiciency, Avith that of Great Britain, there will 
be steady work for years at Mare Island for 10,000 men ; 
whereas the largest number employed heretofore has been 2,000, 
and they were retained only a short time, the average being 
from 500 to 1,000. 

The Woolwich, Cherbourg, and other navy yards of Great 
Britain and France, have each more machinery and material 
than all the American yards put together. Tlie British yards 
furnish employment to 20,000 artisans in ordinary times, and 
twice as many in exceptionally busy seasons. The Cherbourg 
Navy Yard has cost $80,000,000 for permanent improvements ; 
and with the low wages paid in France, that sum represents 



MANUFACTURES, ETC. 189 

more than twice as much labor and material as it would in 
California. The total expenditure for permanent improve- 
ments at Mare Island, has been perhaps $1,000,000. There 
are some dwellings for officers, and buildings for workshops; 
but instead of having machinery and materials for construct- 
ing half a dozen large iron-cladsat once, there is not enough 
of either for the convenient building of a small wooden vessel. 
In fact, we arc almost helpless ; and such security as we enjoy 
on this Coast against aggression is due, not to our strength, 
but to the pacific disiDOsition or interests of the great naval 
powers of Europe. 

A Board of Government Engineers, in March, 1874, recom- 
mended the following permanent improvements, viz : For 
grading 100,000 cubic yards per annum, 15 years, $500,000 ; 
the quay wall, 500 linear feet per annum, $2,500,000 ; for 
extension of floating dock basin, and building and repairing 
ways, 675 feet, to include Ways No. 8, and iron floating dock, 
$1,750,000; for wood and metal work-shops for yards and 
docks, $500,000 ; for carpenter and joiner shops for construc- 
tion and repair, $300,000 ; for machine shops, storehouse, and 
offices, $700,000 ; for storehouse and office for yards and docks, 
$250,000 ; for temporary erecting-shop for steam engineering, 
$300,000 ; for sail-loft in store, $300,000 ; for general store 
for ordnance, $250,000 ; for shell-house for ordnance, $250,- 
000 ; for smithery, $200,000 ; for machine shop, $500,000 ; 
for boiler shop, $250,000 ; for storehouse, $300,000 ; or foun- 
dry, $250,000; for construction basin complete, $1,500,000. 
Total for fifteen years' construction estimated at $10,600,000. 

§ 138. Lumbering . — Lumbering, or the preparation of for- 
est timber for industrial purposes, is an important branch of 
the industry of the State. Our houses are built of lumber, 
our streets are planked with lumber, our fields are fenced with 
lumber, and our flumes and sluices are made of lumber. Some 
parts of the State are very rich in timber, and can readily sup- 
ply the whole demand. Lumber is of three kinds, sawn, 



190 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

hewn, and split : the last two kinds being very small in im- 
portance as compared with tlie first. There are 328 saw-mills 
(205 driven by steam, and 123 by water) in the State, and 
they saw 260,000,000 feet (board measure) annually. Men- 
docino saws 70,000,000, Humboldt 40,000,000, Nevada, 35,- 
000,000, Placer 17,000,000, Santa Cruz 14,000,000, and Sono- 
ma and El Dorado each 9,000,000. The coast mills ai-e occu- 
pied almost entirely with redwood, and tlie mountain mills 
with pine and fir. The mills in Nevada send large quantities 
of lumber of the State of Nevada and Utah. 

The logs cost from S4 to S7 per thousand feet, delivered at 
the mill ; the sawing costs from $3.50 to $4.50, and the 
freight to San Francisco is not less than $4.50 from Humboldt 
Bay, or $3 from Mendocino and Sonoma ports, and sometimes 
25 or 50 per cent. more. In redwood, from 15 to 35 per cent, 
is clear, from 40 to 75 per cent, rough, and from 10 to 25 per 
cent. I'efuse or broken. In fir, from 1 to 25 per cent, is clear, 
from 65 to 85 is rough, and from 5 to 10 per cent, is refuse. 
The refuse clear redwood sells for $10 less than the good clear, 
and the refuse rough $4 less than the otlier. There is, be- 
sides, a coinmission on sales, varying from two and a half to 
five per cent. The average cost to the producer of tlie lum- 
ber, delivered in San Francisco, is not less than $1 6. 

§ 139. Cod Fishery. — The fisheries of our Coast are, ac- 
cording to respectable authorities, superior to those of the 
North Atlantic in the abundance, variety, and quality of the 
fish ; but if there were no superiority in any point, we should 
still have cause to i-egret that the natural wealtli of our rivei's 
and banks is neglected. We import largely of cod, mackerel, 
herring, sardines, and anchovies, which abound on our shores ; 
and perhaps sardelles, which we obtain from Germany, might 
also be found here. The mackerel oiF the coast of Santa Bar- 
bara is small ; but a fish very similar to the Atlantic mackerel, 
and equal in size and flavor, was found near Kodiak by the 
U. S. Coast Survey last summer. The cod banks of Alaska 



MANUFACTUKES, ETC. 191 

are more extensive than those of Newfoundland. Halibut 
can be caught in immense numbers, but they are scarcely dis- 
turbed. The curing of salmon is only in its beginnings, while 
that of herring, smelt, sardines, and anchovies has not yet 
commenced. The cod fishery is languisliing. In 1873 only 
eleven vessels went to the Alaska banks from California, about 
one-half as many as had gone in several previous seasons. The 
causes of the decline, so far as we can learn, are that the men 
employed are ignorant and careless, the salt impure, and the 
drying process faulty. Some vessels take the cheapest salt for 
curing, and its alkalies unite with the fat of the fish to injui'e 
its flavor and reduce its weight. Opinions prevail among ex- 
perts that the process of drying proceeds too fast in our cli- 
mate, and that the rapidity of desiccation makes the meat hard, 
and prevents a certain course of chemical changes necessary 
to excellence. It is said that some of the codfish most in favor 
Avith those who claim to be gourmets, are also the most fra- 
grant while drying. If a moister atmosphere than ours is 
requisite, it can be found on the shores of Puget Sound, where 
the climate resembles that of England. Spain, which has in 
Europe the latitude and climate of California, has never taken 
a prominent part in the cod-fishery of the Atlantic ; but the 
Californians do not consider themselves limited by the exam- 
ple of the Spaniards. 

It is only within a few years that the codfishery has been 
commenced in the Pacific. In 1864 the first vessel lel"t San 
Francisco to fish for cod in the Northern seas, and her venture 
was so profitable that a multitude of others followed her ex- 
ami)le. Since then the business has been irregular, and is not 
important just now ; but it will soon increase, and take a prom- 
inent place among the industries of the North Pacific. Along 
the shore of Alaska, au4 the numerous islands belonging to 
it, the best and largest cod banks are found. The fish are 
caught in water from fifteen to sixty fathoms deep, and hereto- 
fore the vessels engaged in the trade have salted the fish down 



192 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

immediately after catching, and have kept them in salt until 
their arrival here ; whereas the fish would have been better, 
and the process cheaper, if the drying could have been done 
near the fishing ground. 

The principal fishing grounds are off the Fox Islands, the 
Chouraagin Islands, and Kodiak, and a few boats have gone 
to the Ochotsk. A large part of the ocean near our new pos- 
session oft'ers a fine field for fisliing, but the depth of water 
has been examined in comparatively few places. Off the 
Choumagin Islands there is a bank, and the depth of water at 
a distance of thirty-five miles is from forty to fifty fathoms. 
Fifty miles south, 83° west of the southernmost point of the 
Choumagin, there is a bank forty-five fathoms. Along the 
southeastern coast of Afognak and Kodiak, there is a bank of 
forty-five fathoms, but east of St. Paul's there is a " pocket " 
with ninety fathoms. South by east, fourteen miles from the 
eastern end of the easternmost of the Trinity Islands, there is 
a bank with fifty fathoms. Half-way between Trinity Island 
and Oukanok, soundings give fifty-five fathoms. East of the 
south end of Niuniak Island, distant twenty-eight miles, the 
water is fifty fathoms, and ten miles further east forty fathoms 
deep. Nine miles southeast from the Sannach Reef, in latitude 
54° 20', longitude 162° 30', bottom is found at thirty-five 
fathoms. In latitude 53° 35' and longitude 164° 10', soundings 
are obtained in fifty fathoms. In the eastern part of Behring's 
Sea there is a cod bank with an area of 18,000 square miles 
and a depth of less than fifty fathoms. 

Our Coast Survey could scarcely render better service to 
the country than by detailing several vessels to make a recon- 
noissance of all the waters about Alaska, so as to ascertain pre- 
cisely where the best fishing grounds are. That is work that 
must be done, and the sooner the better. Professor Davidson 
says: 

" Next to the fur trade in its legitimate pursuit, the fisher- 
ies of the coast of the new territory will prove the most valu- 



MANUFACTURES, ETC. 193 

:able ami certain ; in fact, I consider them the most important 
acquisition to our Pacific Coast. As tlie hanks of Newfound- 
land are to the ti'ade of tlie Atlantic, so will the greater banks 
of Alaska be to the Pacific — inexhaustible in supply of fish 
that are eqiial, if not superior, in size and quality, to those of 
the Atlantic, and the pursuit thereof developing a race of sea- 
men yearly decreasing as our steam marine, commercial and 
naval, is increasing." 

§ 140. Salmon Fish-ery. — ^The rivers of California and the 
waters of the ocean near its coast, abound with fish. Trout 
are caught in the little streams, salmon in the Sacramento 
and San .Joaquin, and the rivers emptying into the ocean north 
of San Francisco Bay ; and a great variety of fish are cauglit 
in the ocean. 

Our fisheries are as yet so limited in extent that few fish 
are salted, nearly all going while fresh to supply the market 
of the towns on the coast. Salmon is the only fish salted for 
export. The species of salmon caught in our waters is called 
the Quinnat. They are hatched in the rivers, go out to sea 
when three or four months old, stay there, probably not less 
than fifteen months, and then return to the river in which they 
were born, there to spawn. The Quinnat salmon, as found 
in our waters, averages ten pounds in weight, and sometimes 
grows to sixty jDouuds. It enters our rivers in November and 
remains about four months. Before our rivers were kept in a 
continual state of muddiness by the gold miners, the salmon 
ascended every brook in the Sierra Nevada large enough for 
a fish to swim in ; but now they do not leave the large rivers 
nor ascend them far. The salmon in clear water ofi:er fine 
sport to the fisherman with the fiy, but in California they are 
caught only as a matter of business, and always in the gill- 
net, which has meshes just large enough to let the fish get his 
head in, and then the twine catches him behind the gills and 
holds hira. The net is not dragged, but is stretched across or 
partly across the river, and is allowed to drift with the current 
13 



194 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

down stream, a distance of some hundreds of yards, perhaps a 
quarter or even half a mile, tlie fisherman accompanying it 
in a boat. The net has lead sinkers at the bottom and cork 
floats at the top, so as to keep it upright, and it is not so deep 
as to catch on the bottom. The fish are swimming up the 
river, so they of coui-se run into the net. A large number of 
salmon are taken in Eel River, Humboldt County, and great 
quantities might be caught in the Klamath and other streams 
along the northern coast. A few young salmon, varying from 
three to six inches in length, are caught wliile on their way 
out to sea, with fine nets, in the shallow waters of San Fran- 
cisco Bay. The Quinnat salmon is fat when it enters the fresh 
waters from the ocean, but gradually grows lean, and the 
color, which is light yellowish red, changes to a deej^er shade 
as it ascends the rivers. The meat becomes leaner, poorer in 
flavor, and redder in color, in proportion to the length of time 
that it remains in fresh water ; but the little ones which have 
never seen the salt water, have a more delicate meat than the 
larger ones fresh from the ocean. No attempt has yet been 
made to breed fish for our rivers, though it might evidently 
be done to a profit in many of the streams ^ but whether in 
the Sierra Nevada, where the mud abounds, is doubtful. Yet 
the probabilities of success are suflicient to justify the trial. 
Fifteen years ago the salmon regularly ascended all, or nearly 
all, the mountain streams, to points above any of the present 
mining camps, where the waters are as clear now as they were 
in 1847. The rule is known to be general, and supposed to be 
universal, that the salmon leave the ocean in the stream from 
which they entered it ; and it is supjwsed, further, that they 
go to the very branch or brook in which they were born. It 
is well known that there is a salmon in the Klamath River 
never seen in Humboldt Bay, and various species in the Col- 
umbia never found in the waters of California, and salmon in 
the Quiniault River, Washington Territory, not found yet in 
any other stream ; and the Indians of Oregon say that certain 



MANUFACTURES, ETC. 195 

tributaries of the Columbia liave species never canglit in any 
other place. If, then, a million of eggs were hatched at the 
head waters of the Sacramento River, there would be reason 
to hope that tliey would return to spawn there. 

§ 14:1. Various Sea-fish. — The halibut are not sufficiently 
abundant on the coast to make the fishery for them a distinct 
branch of business. They are caught with a hook at sea, in 
water varying from thirty to iifty fathoms deep, on rocky 
bottoms. Tlie line called a " trawl-line " is about six hundred 
yards long, with numerous short lines and hooks, and is left 
six or eight hours in a place, and when drawn up has halibut, 
flounders, rock-fish, turbot, cod, and nearly all the large bit- 
ing fish that come to the market. The bait used is chiefly 
sardines and herrings. ; 

The mackerel, {Scomber diegd) a good fish, but smaller 
than the Atlantic mackerel, is caught with a hook off" the 
coast south of Point Conception. It is a surface fish, and 
bites greedily at a bit of white rag or shining fish-skin jerked 
through the water. It does not frequent bays, but is caught 
in the harbors of Catalina Island. 

The little brown rock-fish {Sebastes auriculatus) is caught 
in San Francisco Bay about the wharves ; but the other species 
are only found out in the open sea. Tliey stay where the 
bottom is rocky, eat crabs and shell-fish, and bite freely at 
hooks. Most of them are caught near Punta Reyes and the 
Farallone Islands. The rock-fish are in the market, and of 
equally good quality, throughout the year. 

The turbot is caught with the trawl-line throughout the year. 
Soles are caught with small mesh-nets in the shallow waters 
of the Bay of San Francisco, at all seasons of the year. 
There is no separate fishery for them : they are caught with 
numerous other species of small fishes, among which the 
smelts have an important place. The smelts are much more 
abundant than on the Atlantic coast, go in large shoals, and 
are caught at all seasons. A laraje business mi<rht be done in 



196 KESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

salting them, but tliey are caught only for the fresh market. 
The anchovies are very numerous in San Francisco Bay, 
where tliey try to keep in shoals by themselves, but do not 
succeetl, and are caught with other small fishes in nets. They 
are fully equal to the European anchovy, and may become an 
important article of commerce. At present, most of those 
taken are eaten fresh, and only a few are potted. They are 
caught at all seasons of the year. Sardines are also abundant, 
and of a flavor equal to those on the coast of France, but 
larger. Tiiey are found in all the bays along the coast, from 
May to October. An attempt was made several years ago to 
pickle sardines for the market, but it failed. Tlie herring is 
not abundant on the coast of Califoniia, or at least is not 
found here in such dense shoals as in the Atlantic, and our 
species is smaller. It is caught with a net in the shallow 
watex's of the bays. Shrimps are caught in the shallow watei*s 
of the bay of San Francisco with small mesh-nets, but are be- 
coming very scarce. The sturgeon visits the rivers of the At- 
lantic States, for only a couple of months in a year, but it is 
abundant in the Californiau rivers at all seasons. It never 
bites, the mouth being a round hole, always open, surrounded 
with gristle. In the Eastern States the sturgeon is often har- 
pooned, but here it is caught only with nets. The meat is 
coarse, and is sold at one-fourth or one-sixth the price de- 
manded for the meat of other fishes. The sturgeon might be 
salted, but nothing has been done in that business yet. An 
attempt was made several years ago in San Francisco to estab- 
lish the business of preparing caviare from the roe of the stur- 
geon, but it did not prove profitable, and it was abandoned. 
Sea-bass, a fish of fine, delicate flavor, and highly prized by 
epicures, is caught with hand-lines outside the heads of San 
Francisco Bay, and in the bay near Saucelito, with nets during 
the spring and summer. It is not abundant. The sheeps- 
head, an excellent fish, is caught ofl' Santa Barbara with hand- 
lines durins: the summer. It should be brousxht to the mar- 



MANUFACTURES, ETC. 197 

ket alive in smacks, for it loses its delicacy of flavor soon 
after deatli. Tlie jewfish is abundant south of Point Concep- 
tion, and may easily be taken with a hook or harpoon. It 
spends most of its time at the bottom, in both deep and shoal 
water, but frequently comes to the siirface, and according to 
report, sleeps there. It also goes into lagoons, and likes to be 
near the kelp. They grow very large, sometimes to weigh 
five hundred pounds ; and as their flesh is very good, a jorofit- 
able business might be made of fishing for them. 

Sharks are taken by Chinamen for food, and by Americans 
for tlieir oil. The common sharks caught by the Chinamen, 
perhaps more properly called " dog-fish," [Acanthea suckleyi, 
and TrkiJcis fasciatus) are taken in nets during the summer 
months, and are dried in the sun. They are from three to five 
feet long, and contain a large amount of meat, whicli is never 
eaten by white men, but seems to have favor among the Mon- 
golians. Tlie fish is cut open by a dexterous and quick stroke 
of a large knife along the back-bone, and is then dried with- 
out the use of salt. The fins are considered a delicacy. In 
Humboldt Bay the true shark, {Notorhynchus ynaculatus) from 
five to twelve feet in length, is taken with spears. Three men 
have a flat-bottomed boat, twenty feet long and four feet wide, 
with which they go into the shallow waters of the bay, whither 
the sharks resort in pursuit of the sardines. The liver is taken 
from the shark, and the remainder thrown away. Each 
liver yields from one to eight pounds of oil. The spears have 
a handle eight feet long, whicli is loose, and comes out of the 
spear-head after the shark is struck. If the handle were fas- 
tened in the spear-head, it would be broken by the struggles 
of the fish. A rope attached to the spear-head suffices to hold 
him, and by its means he is drawn up to the side of the boat, 
where he is struck by an axe on the head, and thus dispatched. 
The shark season lasts only about two months, during July 
and August. The oil is used for lubricating the machinery of 
the sasv-mills about the bay, and sells for one dollar per gal- 



198 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

Ion ; and so long as the season lasts, the fishermen make from 
five to ten dollars per day. 

Monterey Bay is destined to be the seat of a large fishing 
interest. The bay, being twenty miles wide at the mouth, and 
ten miles deep inland, serves as a sort of bag to catch the fish, 
which come running down the coast near shore; and as the 
depth of water is not great, fishermen have an excellent chance 
at them. Many kinds of fish, which seldom venture in at the 
narrow Golden Gate against a strong tide and fresh water, 
abound at Monterey. There is no better place on the coast for 
catching sardines and herrings than at Monterey, which town 
would also 'be an excellent rendezvous for smacks engaged in 
catching the larger varieties of fish that are found in the 
Santa Bai-bara Channel. So many whales enter Monterey Bay, 
that there are several whale-boats constantly engaged in hunt- 
ing them, and about forty are killed annually. Tiie Mon- 
terey whale fishers are mostly Portuguese ; the Chinese devote 
themselves to fishing for small fry, of which they catch and 
dry about three hundred tons in a year. Besides the fish, the 
Celestials take great numbers of abelones, the mollusks that 
make the large, bright, univalve, pearl-like shells of our Coast. 

§ 142. JJuntinf/. — The principal game quadrupeds and birds 
of California are grizzly bear, elk, deer, antelope, hare, rabbit ; 
the gray Canada brant, the wliite goose; the canvas-back, 
mallard, sprig-tail, spoonbill, and summer ducks, the widgeon, 
the teal, the English black-breasted, sand, and dowiches snipe ; 
the curlew, the mountain partridge, the valley quail, and var- 
ious kinds of grouse. Nobody makes a business of hunting 
the grizzly : to attack him is so dangerous, and to kill him so 
difiicult, that many hunters will not shoot at him even when 
he comes in their way. A large number of them, however, 
are killed every year, and their carcasses are seen in the meat 
markets of San Francisco at all seasons of the year. The 
meat resembles pork in its greasiness, but it is coarser in texture, 
and rank in fiavor. It nauseates some delicate stomachs. 



MANUFACTURES, ETC. 199 

The Spanish-Californians sometimes lasso the bear, "When 
four or five of them, well mounted, and provided with good 
saddles and reatas, surprise a bear in an open plain, they all 
beset him at once, and while one thi*ows the lasso over his 
head, another catches him by a hind-leg, and a third by a fore- 
leg ; and then two horses in front, but a little distance from 
each other, drag him along, and the thiixl and perhaps a fourth 
horse follows him, each one keeping his lasso stretched, so that 
even if the bear should succeed in breaking one riata or slip- 
ping it off, he will still be held fast by several others. He is 
thus dragged to a pen, where he is kept for a bull-fight or 
some other amusement. 

It is only a few years since the elk were abundant on the 
Sacramento and San Joaquin, but they have now disappeared 
in those places, and are found in small numbers along the 
northern coast, where they will soon be exterminated. The 
meat resembles that of the deer, but is a little coarser in grain. 
The elk are shy animals, have a very quick ear, and are more 
difficult to apj)roach than any other game animal in the State, 
unless the mountain sheep be excepted. They ordinarily lie 
hidden in thickets during the middle of the day, and feed 
about sunrise and sunset, at which times the hunters seek 
them. 

The black-tailed deer are good game for the hunter. They 
may be approached with more ease than the Virginia deer, run 
with a steady gait, and when disturbed do not run so far. 
The deer east of the Mississippi go with a run and a jump; 
the Pacific deer move with a steady run. Their meat is not 
so sweet as that of their Eastern congeners. The deer live 
near the timber, and ai'e found along the coast and in the 
Sierra Nevada. They were at one time very abundant, but are 
now rai)idly decreasing. The best place for hunting them is 
in Mendocino County. There is no deer-hunting on horseback, 
nor by large parties. The hunters go out alone or in small 
parties. Occasionally a deer is caught with the lasso, but this 



200 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

requires an excellent liorse, a fii^st-i-ate vaquero, and a snrprisey 
or when a man riding through the woods will occasionally 
come within a few yards of the deer before being seen. 

Tlie antelope lives in the open plain and in the desert. The 
valley of San Joaquin was once full of great herds of them, 
but they, like other large game, have become rare noAv. They 
are shy, but inquisitive also, and are easily enticed to approach 
the hunter, who hides himself behind a rock, and fastening a 
white handkerchief to his ramrod, waves it back and forth. 
The antelope, like the deer, is occasionally caught with the 
reata, but these occasions do not occur once in the year, and 
when they do occur, they establish the fame of the horse and 
rider engaged in the exploit. 

Tliere is one pack of hounds in tlie State, and they are some- 
times, but rarely, used for liunting coyotes and foxes, as well 
as deer. 

Tlie wild geese and ducks are very abundant in California, 
from September to March. Hiey spend the winter in thetules 
of San Francisco Bay and tributary waters, and in the spring 
they migrate to the north. While here, they afford profitable 
em]>loyment to a number of hunters, who are of two classes — 
the " boat-shooters " and the " ox-shootei-s. " The boat-shooters 
go in parties of two or three, each party having a sloop of its 
own. The sloop goes to the slough where the game abounds, 
and there evei*y man starts in his skiff*, with three double-bai*- 
relled shot-guns. He usually shoots first at the ducks or geese 
while they are in the water, and afterward again and again as 
they rise and fly. Sometimes he goes ashore, to shoot them 
while feeding. The geese spend the night in the water — gen- 
erally in a slough or pond — and rise about daybi-eak, to feed 
in the fields of grain, grass, or wild oats. They remain there 
dunng a considerable part of the morning, return to spend the 
middle of the day in the water, go back to the fields in the 
afternoon, and at sunset take to the water again for the night. 
The ducks get most of their food in the tules, and are not 
often shot on the land. 



MANUFACTURES, ETC. 201 

Tlie ox-shooter stalks his game. He has a trained ox, wliich 
walks before him and liides him from the geese or ducks until 
within good sliooting-distance. The boat-shooters average 
thirty ducks a day during the season ; and a good ox-shooter 
will sometimes kill one hundred and fifty geese in a day. 

Snipe, curlew, and quail, are the game for sportsmen who 
hunt for their amusement, and the modes of hunting them are 
the same as those in the Eastern States. 

The diver or devil's diver frequents the bays of California, 
and is killed for its pelt, which is used for collars, capes, and 
muffs, the feathers being fine in texture, making a thick mat, 
and wearing a smooth surface with lustrous white, gray, and 
dai-k gray colors. The bird when shot is skinned by cutting 
down the middle of the back, so as to preserve the beautiful 
plumage of the breast entire ; and a large pelt, nicely stretched 
and dried, has at times been worth $3 or $4 in the San Fran- 
cisco market, and in Europe still more. It is said that as 
many as one liundrcd liave been killed by one hunter in a day, 
but that was at a time when they were far more abundant 
than now. 

§ 143. House-building. — In the building of houses, the Cali- 
fornians, like Americans generally, are expert and quick. It 
it is not uncommon to see a wooden dwelling-house commenced 
and finished within a month. Brick houses are built so fast, 
that the mortar has scarcely time to dry and harden as the 
walls go up. Most of the houses are of wood, and of the kind 
called " Balloon " or " Chicago " frames, fastened togetlier with 
nails, without tenons and mortices, and with no upright posts 
thicker than two by four inches. This kind of a frame, called 
" Balloon " from its lightness, and " Chicago " because they first 
came extensively into use in that ])lace about fifteen years ago, 
ajipears very strange to a carpenter familiar only with the old- 
fashioned frames held together by tenons and mortices ; but 
weak as the balloon-frame appears, it is really the strongest 
kind of a wooden building ; and it is not uufrequeutly made 



202 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

four or five stories liigli, Avliereas the heavier frame very rarely 
reaches tliree stories. 

In tlie balloou-frarae, the sills, instead of being eight, ten, 
or twelve inches square, are only two or three inches by six or 
eight ; and they rest on numerous studs, which again rest on 
the ground. Tiie sills are nailed together at the corners. The 
studs are not morticed into the sills, but nailed upon them. 
The lower joists stand upon the sills, and the upper ones rest 
upon an inch board " let into " the studs to which they are 
nailed. On the top of the studs is no heavy plate, but only a 
board. At the corners two studs are put side by side. Each 
stud is hoisted to its place separately, so there is no " raising." 
Wooden houses are all covered with shingles. White pine, 
imported from the Eastern States, is used to a considerable 
extent for the frames and casings of doors and windows, and 
for other inside-work ; and nearly all the doors and window- 
sashes are imported ready made. 

Nine-tenths of the houses in the State are of wood ; the 
others are of brick and adobes. Stone houses are very rare. 
Brick buildings are numerous in the business streets of the 
cities and towns. Every town of note has its fire-proof brick 
stores, with iron doors and window-shutters, and its roof of 
brick laid in mortar. The bricks are made in this State, and 
the lime is burned here. Brick buildings not constructed to 
be fire-]iroof, have shingled roofs. There are a few buildings 
with fronts of granite, which for one house was brought from 
China, and that for others from the Eastern States. 

Stone houses are very rare in California : it would almost be 
possible to count all of them on the fingers. Nearly all the 
dwellings in the counties bordering on the coast, from Mon- 
terey southward, are made of adobes, or sun-dried bricks ; but 
most of the houses built of late, and all the elegant structures, 
are of wood or brick. 

§ 144. Turpentine, etc. — When the exportation of rosin 
and turpentine from North Carolina was arrested by the civil 



MANUFACTURES, ETC. 203 

war, Butte County went into the production of those things 
from the pitch of the Western Yellow Pine, {Pinus ponderosa) 
wliich grows about Forbestown and Magalia, and in other 
parts of the country, to large size and in great abundance. A 
hole was cut in the side of the ti-ee in the spring, and the semi- 
fluid pitch which collected there was put into a retort and 
distilled, the volatile i)ortion passing off in vapor, and after- 
wards condensing into turpentine, while the solid matter re- 
mained in the form of rosin. This industry was very active 
for four or five years, but at last lias ceased, as North Caro- 
lina has again resumed her old industry, and can make rosin 
and turpentine cheaper than we can. 

Some turpentine makers in Butte County tried to distill the 
pitch of tlie nut pijie, [Pbms sahiniana) and after some diffi- 
culty succeeded, but found that the liquid produced was dif- 
ferent from turpentine, being much ligliter and possessing a 
pleasant odor. An examination of it made by W. T. Wenzel, 
chemist, showed that its specific gravity is only 0.694, while 
that of turpentine is 0.840, and its boiling point differs 
much from that of turpentine. It was first named erasine, 
but druggists who have sought to convey the idea that they 
had exclusive possession of it, have called it aurantine, theo- 
line, abietine, and various other names. It is excellent for dis- 
solving grease, and its vapors are fatal to moths. 

The manufacturers of erasine buy their pitch delivered at 
$3.50 per 100 pounds — the price being about twice as high as 
that of the pitch from the common yellow pine trees. The 
latter are larger and grow in denser forests, so that one man 
can collect more in a day. The pitch-gatherer cuts a notch 
eight or ten inches wide across the tree, and three or four 
inches deep, with a depression that will hold the sap, which is 
transferred once a month to a tin can. A tree two feet in 
diameter will yield from three to four gallons the first year, 
and more the second and third ; and forty gallons of the crude 
pitch will, when distilled, give five gallons of erasine and 



204 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

twenty-five or tliirty of fine rosin. The distillation is more 
diflicult and also move dangerous than that of common tur- 
pentine. 

§ 145, Silk. — San Francisco has now a silk factory en- 
gaged in the manufacture of sewing silk. The silk manufac- 
urers are sanguine in regard to the profits of the business in 
this State. They claim that the expense of living is less here 
than in Paterson or Lyons ; that the warmth of the winters 
will save the expense of heating the mills, (the threads snap in 
cold Aveather, especially when the machinery is first started in 
the morning) and labor is cheaper, 

§ 146. Sulphur and Salt. — The production of sulphur and 
manufacture of its compounds in California, is rising in im- 
portance. The chief supply of the world is obtained from the 
sides of Mount ^Etna, in Sicily, and this State used the Sicilian 
brimstone until lately. The sulphur works on the shore of 
Clear Lake have at times produced four tons a day — as much 
as the Coast could consume. The freight from the Mediterra- 
nean, the increased charge on account of the combustible 
nature of the material, and the necessity for keeping large 
stocks on hand, so as to prevent any disturbance of trade in 
case a cargo should be delayed or lost, give decided advanta- 
ges to the home manufacture. The Sicilian brimstone cannot 
be laid down here for less than four cents per pound, and the 
domestic article is sold for three and a half cents. 

The sulphur bed of Clear Lake is about eight miles from 
the southern end, on the eastern shore, only a few hundred 
yards from the water. There is a bank resembling ashes, in 
which there are numerous alkaline and sulphur springs, and 
also vent-holes, from which sulphurous fumes escape. These 
holes are surrounded by beautiful cr3'stals of pure sulphur 
deposited by the fumes rising from below. The earth, con- 
taining about fifty per cent, of sulphur, is placed in an iron 
retort, which is heated to a high temperature, so that the sul- 
phur is driven oft" in fumes into a receiver, where it settles in 



MANUFACTURES, ETC. 205 

a liquid form, and runs out into pine boxes, two feet long, and 
a foot square. It is as pure as the Sicilian brimstone, but the 
latter comes in sticks, which are more convenient for handling, 
when small pieces are wanted. 

The lump sulphur is used chiefly for making jiowder, and 
sulphuric acid, which last is employed in making blue-stone, 
giant powder, nitric acid, and muriatic acid, and in refining 
gold and silver. The consumption of sulphuric, nitric, and 
muriatic acid on the Coast, amounts to 2,000,000 tbs, and the 
entire demand is supplied by home manufacture. The produc- 
tion of flowers of sulphur has been commenced at Clear Lake. 
The fumes passing ofl" from the retort, instead of being carried 
into a small hot receiver as for brimstone, are led into a large, 
cool chamber, in wliich they condense into a flaky, snowlike 
form. A large supply of the flowers of sulphur has been re- 
quired in this State by the vineyardists, who use them to pre- 
vent or cure the oidiura, or vine mildew. 

East of Kern Lake there is a flat, with an area of twelve 
square miles, where brine stronger than that of most saline 
springs can be obtained at a depth of ten feet, and it yields a 
salt of excellent quality for table purposes. This brine rises 
to tlie surface in various places, and in dry weather dries and 
crystallizes, so that considerable quantities can be shoveled 
up in an impure condition. Persons at various times have 
pumped lip the water and boiled it down, but nothing is beino- 
done now in that way. The natural brine is strong euouo-h 
without concentration to pickle meat. 

Along the coast, salt is made from the ocean at various 
points where the water can be admitted at pleasure, or is 
blown by storms into shallow ponds. The most extensive salt 
ponds of the State are in Alameda County, where several 
thousand acres in a district extending from near San Leandro 
to tlie JMission of San Jose, are used in summer for the pur- 
poses of evaporation ; and hundreds of tons of salt are pro- 
duced there annually, most of it of a very low grade. At 



206 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

the Goleta Ranch, in Santa Barbai-a County, a flat fills with 
water during storms and dries np in clear weather, leaving a 
bed of salt that has supplied a large area of country for many 
years. 

In some of the salt flats along the eastern base of the Sierra 
Nevada, salt has been obtained for years by evaporating 
water drawn from pits or wells only two or three feet deep. 

The salt-makers, while digging their pits, found large crys- 
tals, which they tasted and threw away because they were 
not good salt. Assays prove that they are borax, and many 
of these flats, which were not worth $1.25 per acre for the 
brine, have now been bought up. It is singular that the 
brine in these flats should be nearly free from borax, and that 
the crystals in the stratum in which the brine is found are 
nearly free from salt. The surface of the salt and borax flats 
is usually covered with slum or dry mud, about a foot thick ; 
and beneath that is a layer of earth and sand, mixed with the 
borax crystals, from an inch to two feet thick. So far, only one 
stratum of borax has been found, but others could perhaps be 
discovered by deep digging. The borax is worth twenty 
times as much per ton as ordinary salt. 

In Southern California, near the line of Nevada, there is a 
deposit of rock salt in large rectangular and transparent crys- 
tals, and it is supposed that by careful search other similar de- 
posits might be found. Some of this salt is quarried now, and 
hauled away by people in the vicinity. 

§ 147. Heet Sugar. — The manufacture of beet sugar was 
commenced in 1870, when 500,000 pounds were manufactured 
from that year's crop; the beets of 1871 supplied 850,000 
pounds; those of 1872, 1,300,000 pounds, and those of 1873, 
1,500,000 pounds. There are two factories, one at Santa 
Cruz, the other at Sacramento. The average yield of beets is 
fifteen tons to the acre ; the average yield of sugar, eight per 
cent., or 2,400 pounds of sugar to the acre. It has been found 
that in our climate the beet can be kept with much less ex- 



MANUFACTURES, ETC. 207 



pense than in those places where the thermometer frequently 
goes down to zero. Protection against frost is expensive in 
Germany, and here it costs nothing. The Californian beet su- 
gar mills are the only successful establishments of the kind in 
United States, but they are not very proiitable, or they would 
have been enlarged beyond their present capacities. Each is 
prepared now to work up sixty tons of beets in a day. 



208 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 



CmVPTER vin. 
AGRICULTURE. 

§ 148. Statistics. — According to the Federal census report, 
California had, in 1870, 23,734 farms, averaging 482 acres in 
size. Of those which had 500 acres or more, there were 1,915 ; 
12,248 had between 100 and 499 acres; 3,224 between 50 
and 99 acres; and 6,339 between 3 and 49 acres. Tracts of 
less than three acres were not counted. The round casli value 
of the farms was $141,000,000 ; of our live stock, $37,000,000 ; 
and of our annual farm products, $50,000,000. The total num- 
ber of acres in farms was 11,400,000, and the number im- 
proved, 0,200,000. According to the latest State statistics, 
5,261,000 acres were enclosed in 1871, and 3,653,000 were 
cultivated, and 20,074,000 were assessed in 1872. The State 
Report says that the total production of cereals amounted in 
1870 — we have returns for 1871, but the crop was less then 
on account of drought — to 30,000,000 bushels, including 
17,300,000 of wheat, 9,500,000 of barley, 3,700,000 of oats, 
and 1,400,000 of maize. In other words, we grew nearly twice 
as much wheat as barley ; nearly three times as much barley 
as oats ; and twice as much oats as maize. In Ohio, on the 
other hand, they grow about twenty times as much wlieat as 
barley ; as much oats as wheat ; and fifty per cent, more maize 
than of the three others combined. 

In April, 1874, 4,500,000 acres of land were under cultiva- 
tion, tlie increase having been rapid of late years. In 1860, 
the area was 937,000 acres ; in 1866, 1,774,000, and in 1870, 
2,992,000, the gain being more than ten per cent, annually 



AGRICULTURE. 209 

compounding. Of the total in the spring of 1874, about 
1,500,000 acres were to be credited to the low land of the San 
Joaquin Valley, 875,000 to the Northern Coast, 1,350,000 to 
the Southern Coast, 730,000 to the low land of the Sacramento 
Valley, and 200,000 to the Sierra Nevada, with the addition 
of Siskiyou and Shasta Counties. 

It is estimated that 40,000,000 acres in the State deserve 
to be considered tillable. The area of the land surveyed is 
33,000,000 acres; and the amount disposed of, 22,000,000 
acres. The last figure includes 8,000,000 acres of Mexican 
grants, 7,500,000 acres given for educational pui'poses, 4,000,- 
000 acres sold, 600,000 given as homestead claims, and 800,000 
granted to the State as swamp laud. The railroad grants 
cover 30,000,000 acres in the State, but the patents have been 
issued for only a small ])ortion of this amount. 

§ 149, Colorado Desert Volkijs. — In considering the dis- 
tricts valuable for agriculture, let us first turn our attention to 
the valleys east of the Coast and Sierra divides. 

The Carriso Valley, opening into the Colorado Desert, near 
the line of Lower California, has no town, a very dry climate, 
and a fierce summer temperature. The same remarks apply 
to San Felipe and Cahuilla Valleys further north, the last be- 
ing the largest and best of the three, with some excellent 
soil. A district ten miles wide and forty long, thirty miles 
east of the summit of the Coast mountains below the level ot 
the sea, could be irrigated, from the Colorado, and might, no 
doubt, be made valuable. The soil, though not very rich, 
would no doubt be productive when supplied with abundant 
moisture. Wherever there is any cultivation in the low lands 
of the Colorado Desert, vegetation reaches maturity six 
weeks earlier than on the western side of the Coast Moun- 
tains. 

§ 150, Valleys of the Enclosed Basin. — Crossing from the 
Colorado Desert into the enclosed basin, we come to the Mo- 
jave, which rises on the northern slopes of Mount San Bernar- 
14 



210 KESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

dino. It is a very irregular stream, sometimes being nearly 
dry, and there are few settlers in its valley ; which may be tilla- 
ble for a width of two and a length of twenty miles. Teha- 
chepo Valley, drained by White Rock Creek, is ten miles long 
and two wide. Amargosa River, terminating in Death Val- 
ley, has a considerable basin, but no desirable land. Owen 
Valley, eighty miles long, three miles wide, and 4,500 feet 
above the sea, is fertile, and is supplied with water for irriga- 
tion by numerous creeks that come down from the moun- 
tains. Mono Valley, twenty miles long and three wide, is sim- 
ilar to Owen Valley. The East Walker and West Walker 
Rivers, tributaries to Walker River in Nevada, run through 
deep canons in California, with very little tillable land. An- 
telope Creek, emptying into Honey Lake, has a valley twenty 
miles long and one wide. It is about 4,000 feet above the sea. 
Susan River, emptying into the same lake, has a valley twice 
as large. Some of the land is alkaline and unfit for cultiva- 
tion. Pine Creek, a tributary of Eagle Lake, has a valley ten 
miles long and half a mile wide. Surprise Valley, in the 
northeastern corner of the State, is forty miles long and five 
wide, and has a rich soil covered in places by a dense growth 
of wild clover. 

§ 151. Coast Valleys. — In San Diego County, we find the 
Tia Juana, (part of it belongs to Lower California) Sweet- 
water, and Santa Margarita Creeks, and San Diego, San Ber- 
nardo, and San Luis Rey Rivers, The last is the most import- 
ant, but they are all small streams with little level land. Not 
ten square miles out of fifteen thousand in this county, includ- 
ing three thousand west of the main divide of the Coast 
Range, are under cultivation. 

In Los Angeles County, as we move northward from the 
San Diego line, we pass successively the San Juan and Alisos 
Creeks, and the Santa Ana, Coyote, and San Gabriel Rivers. 
The Santa Ana is the lai-gest stream, emptying into the ocean 
between Cape San Lucas and Monterey, a distance of a thou- 



AGRICULTURE. 211 

sand miles ; and yet its bed for ten miles nearest the sea is dry 
for six months of the year in ordinary seasons. Its waters are 
used for irrigating San Bernardino, Riverside, Anaheim, 
Santa Ana, Cocamongo, Jurupa, and Chino. 

San Bernardino has the best wheat land in the State south 
of 35°, and a considerable part of it is table land, a thou- 
sand feet above the sea. Both the ujiper and lower plains are 
well adapted to the cultivation of the vine and sub-tropical 
fruits. 

The San Gabriel River ranks next to the Santa Ana in size 
on tlie western slope of tlie Coast mountains, south of Monterey. 
Near the main stream are San Gabriel, Monte, Nietos, San 
Pascual, Santa Anita, and Wilmington ; on its branch, the 
Los Angeles River, is the town of Los Angeles. About fifteen 
miles from the ocean the San Gabriel breaks through a i-idge 
of hills, abo^'e which, for a distance of two miles, the river 
disappears in the summer and fall, making its way under- 
ground through a sandy plain, and then reappearing below at 
the canon in the hills. This plain is covered with willows, 
and is called the " jNIonte," which in Spanish means either a 
mount or a forest. The earth here is moist, and is the best for 
maize in the State. The soil in all the Coast valleys south of 
35° is sandy, and at Los Angeles and Anaheim much of it is 
nearly pure sand. After running a stream of water for a few 
hours through an irrigating ditch, nothing save gray sand is 
left in sight. On the bottom land below the hills, water 
stands about ten feet below the surface, and artesian water is 
obtained about seventy feet deeper. Artesian water has also 
been found in the San Bernardino plain. The valleys of the 
Santa Ana and San Gabriel contain many vineyards, and have 
more lai-ge orchards of sub-tropical fruit than any other part 
of the State. 

The Saticoy, or Santa Clara River, has a length of seventy 
miles, and for forty miles nearest the sea its bed is dry in the 
fall. The soil of its valley is sandy. 



k 



212 KESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

The Buenaventura River has a valley about twenty miles 
long, with an average width of a quarter of a mile. There are 
numerous little valleys in Ventura County, all well adapted to 
the cultivation of sub-tropical fruits. Artesian water is found 
near the mouth of the Buenaventura River. 

The Santa Barbara plain, at the southei-n base of the Santa 
Inez mountains, has some of the finest orchards of sub-tropical 
fruits in the State. 

The Santa Inez River has a valley about thirty miles long 
and two wide, but has no considerable town or extensive cul- 
tivation ; and the same remarks apply to the Cuyama River, 
which lies to the north of it. Both of them reach the sea 
through canons, the widest parts of their valleys being back 
ten or fifteen miles from the ocean. 

The Salinas valley, the largest of all the coast valleys, is 
ninety miles long, and from eight to fourteen wide. Three 
ten'aces are distinctly traceable on each side of the river. The 
first and lowest is about four miles wide, Avith a sort of a rich, 
sandy loam ; the second rises with an abrupt edge, is eleven 
feet higher, has about two miles of width on each side, and 
has a coarser, poorer soil ; the third terrace is less regular in 
height and width, and has a coarse, gravelly soil, scarcely fit 
for cultivation. This terraced formation, with its variations 
in richness of soil, is a strongly-marked feature of man}' 
valleys in the State. The southern or upper part of the valley 
is very dry, and the cultivation is confined almost entirely to 
the lower or northern part of it, within convenient reach of 
steam communication. 

The Pajaro valley has two branches, one coming from the 
southward, the other from the northward, and both rich. In 
tlie northern branch, about ten miles south of the town of 
Gilroy, is a ])lain of about ten thousand acres of rich swamp 
that needs draining. 

The San Lorenzo, flowing southward into Monterey Bay, is 
the first stream to which we have come with a considerable 



AGRICULTURE. 213 

body of forest in the low land of its basin. The pasturage is 
good, but the area of tillable soil is scanty. 

Passing by the Golden Gate in our northward course, we 
find that the next noteworthy stream entering the ocean is 
Russian River, which has a main valley forty miles long and 
about three miles wide, much of it very fertile. It has also a 
number of small tributary valleys, including those of Green, 
Dry, Santa Rosa, Mark West, Knight's, Spring, Redwood, and 
Potter Creeks. 

Walhalla, Navarro, Eel, and Mad Rivers, are in the redwood 
region, and those portions of their basins within twenty miles 
of the ocean are covered with dense forests of the Coast Se- 
quoia, which is almost inei-adicable ; and tillage is possible, or 
at least profitable, only in places that happen to be free from 
those trees. 

The lOamath rises in Oregon, and has a considerable part 
of its basin, including much fertile land, in California. Nearly 
all of its tillable ^oil is 2,000 feet or more above the level 
of the sea, and is exposed to severe winter and frequent frosts 
in spring and fall. 

§ 152. San Francisco Basin. — The San Francisco Basin, 
lying west of the Diablo Divide and finding its outlet to the 
sea at the Golden Gate, is the richest part of the State. It 
extends from Calistoga to Gilroy, a distance of 120 miles from 
north to south, and is about twenty-five miles wide. Going 
southward from San Francisco, on the eastern side of the 
Gabilan Ridge, we pass San Andreas, Raymundo, and Red- 
wood Valleys, opening into the San Mateo plain, bounded on 
the east by San Francisco Bay. These little valleys are well 
wooded, have good soil, and beautiful scenery ; and the country 
below them is covered with the country residences of the rich 
men of San Francisco. 

Santa Clara Valley, about thirty miles long, and ten miles 
wide at its mouth, is the richest and largest of the valleys in 
the San Francisco Basin. Its proximity to the metropolis, its 



214 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

facilities for communication by land and water, and the abund- 
ance of its artesian wells, contribute to attract population aud 
stimulate cultivation. Wheat, temperate fruits, and straw- 
berries, are among its chief productions. Much of the valley 
is covered with scattered oak trees. 

The Alameda plain, between the Contra Costa Ridge and 
San Francisco Bay, has a ricli, deep soil, excellent for wheat 
and barley, and part of it well adapted to the cultivation of 
kitchen vegetables ; and of tliese the metropolis gets a large 
portion of its supply here. Orchards of apple, pear, plum, 
cherry, and peach trees, are numerous. 

Between the Contra Costa Ridge and the Diablo Divide 
lies a valley called Amador, Livermore, San Ramon, Alamo, 
and Pacheco, in dift'erent parts. The first two have their out- 
let to the southward ; the last three send their waters to the 
Strait of Carquinez, at Martinez. Alameda Creek, which 
drains Amador and Livermore Valleys, runs through Sunol 
Dale, which is about three miles in diameter, and is surrounded 
by steep mountains. 

Tasajera and Diablo are small valleys running down from 
Mt. Diablo. 

Crossing the Strait of Carquinez, we come to Napa Valley, 
which is forty miles long, by two miles of an average width. 
At the lower end the soil is a deep loam, and very fertile ; 
near the upper end we find much gravel. Wheat is cultivated 
in the rich soil ; vineyards and orchards are moi'e profitable 
farther north. The possession of a railroad, of numerous 
places of fashionable resort, of beautiful scenery, and a 
healthful climate, have contributed to place Napa Valley next 
to Santa Clara in relative wealth. Conn and Brown Valleys 
are small tributaries of Napa. 

Sonoma Valley is about fifteen miles long and two wide. 
Most of the soil is thin and not well adapted for grain, but the 
grape flourishes, and this valley has more vines than any other 
district of its size in the State. 



AGRICULTURE. 215 

Petaluma Valley, about twenty miles loug and three wide, 
has a rich moist soil, and a cool climate, and is well adapted 
to the cultivation of fruit, maize, and wheat. 

§ 153. Sacramento- San Joaquin Valley. — The Sacramento- 
San Joaquin Valley is three hundred and fifty miles long from 
north to south, and forty miles wide, with an area of 14,000 
square miles, not more than five hundred feet above the sea 
level. On the western side there are few streams ; on the 
eastern, many. Near the middle of the valley there is much 
tule or swamp, and south of Tulare Lake there is some alka- 
line soil. The entire valley has a warm summer climate, and 
the greater portion of its surface is bare of trees, aud is too 
dry to produce wheat regularly without irrigation. The supply 
of water available for irrigation is abundant, and the topog- 
raphy of tlie country not unfavorable for the construction of 
canals. 

The only minor valleys of note, tributary on the west side to 
the Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley, are the Suisun, Pleasant, 
Putah, and Cache Valleys, all of them formed in the coast 
mountains, not far north from the Strait of Carquinez, and all 
of them fertile and well adapted to the cultivation of grapes 
and fruit. Tributary to Putah Valley are Berreyesa, Pope, and 
Coyote Valleys, and tributary to Cache Creek are the valleys 
of Clear Lake, (which lies about a thousand feet above the 
sea) and Long, Bear, and Indian Creeks. 

Most of the rivers coming down from the Sierra Nevada 
have little bottom land until they get down into the main 
valley. King's, Kaweah, Tule, and Kern Rivers, which reach 
the middle of the valley south of 36° 30', all have deltas of 
rich, moist soil, on which the water may be found at a depth 
varying from seven to twenty feet. These deltas are admira- 
bly adapted to the cultivation of cotton. 

§ 154. Farming Advantages. — The Californian farmer has 
a great advantage over those of the northern Atlantic States, 
in the mildness of the winters. Here we have no snow or 



216 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

ice, and no time is lost because of cold. Xeither ai-e our 
frosts so sevei-e as those east of tlie Mississippi. The climate 
in the valleys is so warm, and the sky so clear through the 
winter, that vegetable life is, in ordinary seasons, almost as 
active in Januaiy as in July ; and our trees and shrubs have 
nearly twice as much time to grow and mature as in the free 
States of the East, where frost reigns from October to May. 
It is a well known fact, that California has produced larger 
specimens of garden vegetables, more thrifty growth and rapid 
development of fruit trees, and larger crops of small grain to 
the acre, than any State in the Union, and many persons have 
siipposed our soil to be richer. No comparison of our soils has 
been made by chemical analysis with those of Illinois, Mis- 
souri, Indiana, and Ohio ; but the probability is, that the latter 
are more fertile. The loam is deeper; the vegetation has been 
greater, and it has enriched the soil by the accumulation of 
its decomposed remains through thousands of years ; whereas 
in the valleys of Califoniia, the vegetation is comparatively 
scanty, and the air is for much of the year too dry to permit a 
decomposition of wood or grass to enrich the soil. The bot- 
tom lands of the Sacramento and San Joaquin are far inferior 
in depth, blackness, and fertility of loam, to the valleys of the 
Miami, AVabash, and Illinois Rivers. 

Our domestic animals can live through the winter without 
shelter and without cultivated food, and thus several items, 
causing much expenditure in Ohio, ai'C here saved. 

The dryness of the summers saves much trouble and expense. 
Weeds cannot grow here as they do in a moister climate. A 
late ploughing finishes them for the season. 

Barns are not generally used in California. The grain, 
after cutting, is put into a stack, or thrown into a heap, until 
a threshing-machine can be obtained, and the grain is then 
placed in the granary. Between Imrvest and threshing time 
there is little danger of rain ; and to such slight danger as 
there is, every farmer exjDoses liimself. Barns in other countries 



AGRICULTURE. 217 

are necessities: here tliey coukl not be used if we had tliem. 
Not unfrequeiitly the grain, within two weeks after cutting, 
is stored in a warehouse in San Francisco ; often it is left lying 
in sacks upon tlie fields until it is sold — a period of months. 
In August and September, the square piles of white sacks in 
the stubble-fields are a common and jirominent feature of the 
Californiau landscape in tlie farming districts. 

As our valleys are not covered with sod, so the first ploiigh- 
ing is nearly as easy as any of the subsequent ones ; and the 
severe task of breaking prairie, so common in the States of the 
upper Mississippi Valley, is unknown here. 

§ 155. Du-advanfaf/es. — The most serious disadvantage of 
California as a farming country is the frequency of droughts. 
The necessity of irrigation over a large part of the State im- 
poses a heavy burden on the farmer, equal generally to two 
dollars an acre, annually ; and although this expenditure is 
more than repaid in the increased yield, yet many of the farm- 
ers cannot afi:'iird to make the advance. Without irrigation, 
there is no proper rotation of crops, and the soil is exhausted 
by the cultivation of the same grain for many succes^^ive yeai'S. 
Rotation is impossible on tlie greater part of the land, because 
its dryness will not permit the growth of roots or common 
grasses. The soil is too dry for maize, potatoes, turnips, clo- 
ver, alfalfa or lucerne, and timothy or herd's grass. Peas and 
beans yield well in only a few localities. In consequence of 
the dryness of the summers, our firming is confined chiefly 
to wheat and barley, which are produced in surplus, and are 
governed in prices by the distant markets to which we must 
send them at our expense. 

Ploughing commences with the first heavy rain, but the 
farmer may lose much time in waiting for it to come. The 
heat and drought of summer and autumn bake the ground, 
and render it too hard for the plough ; so the sooner the rains 
come, after the first of October, tlie more convenient for him, 
and the more work he can do. The rain must be sutficieut to 



218 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

wet the eartli down four or six inches deep ; a little shower 
will not suffice. Tlie soils of loam and clay arc so hard, that 
no ordinary plough is strong enough to break through them ; 
and ploughing would do no good before the rains, because the 
earth would be in large clods, which would furnish little 
nutriment to the grain. If, however, the land had been 
plouglied late in the spring and allowed to lie fallow, it may be 
in good condition for ploughing in the early fall. Grasshop- 
pers, akin to the " locusts " mentioned in the Bible, have fre- 
quently done great damage to the crops, though not in the 
middle of the larger valleys, where extensive areas have 
been regularly culti\'ated. 

§ 156. Droughts. — It is estimated that twelve inches ot 
water are sufficient to secure a good wheat crop in California — 
that is, distributed at the time and in the manner best adapted 
to the growth of the grain. But the rains do not come at 
such times and in such manners. They pour down in excess 
in one month, and they fail to appear in the next. They may 
be abundant — either too early, or too late to do much good ; 
and usually there is a partial failure when the rainfall does not 
amount to sixteen inches, and when less than fourteen inches, 
the failure is general. In the last twenty years there have 
been seven of general failure in the Sacramento Valley, and 
the proportion is still larger in the San Joaquin Valley, where 
the rainfall is considerably less. 

The most disastrous drought in the history of the State was 
that of the summer of 1863 and 1864, the two winters preced- 
ing them having brought, together, only as much rain as 
should have been brought by one winter. The result was 
a com])lete failure of grain and grass everywhere, save on the 
northern coast, and a great mortality among farm animals. 
Out of 3,000,000 horses, neat cattle, and sheep, in tlie State, 
more than 800,000 died by starvation. Tiie southern coast 
suffered most sevcrelj^, and in some counties two-thirds of all 
their neat cattle died. 



AGRICULTURE. 219 

§ 157. Fences. — In tlie matter of fences, the Californian 
farmer is at a disadvantage, as compai*ed with his Eastern 
bretliren, who usually have timber enough on or near their 
land to fence it ; but here, in the agricultural districts generally, 
trees fit for making rails or boards are lacking. Throughout 
the United States, tlie system has prevailed of permitting 
horses, cattle, sheep, and hogs, to run at large, with no right 
of indemnity for any damage which they might do in culti- 
vated fields, unless surrounded by a " lawful fence." This 
may be a good system for the pioneer, who tills little land, and 
wishes his horses and cattle to have a wide range ; and it was 
well suited to the pastoral life of the Spanish Californians 
previous to the American conquest : but it is of doubtful policy 
as applied to the present condition of atfairs, at least in the 
principal agricultural valleys, where all the land is under 
plough. 

According to the Federal Agricultural Report of 1871, 
California had, in 1870,4,971,504 acres under fence, used 66,- 
000 miles of fencing ; the cost of the present fencing is $29,- 
600,000 ; the annual cost of repairs is $1,800,000 ; the annual 
interest on the cost is $1,770,000 ; the annual interest and 
repairs together amount to $3,575,000, and the average cost 
of new fencing is about $450 per mile. The estimate of $1,770,- 
000 for the interest on the cost of the fencing is too low, and 
is based on an allowance of only six per cent, annually ; 
whereas twelve per cent, is nearer the true figure, making the 
yearly interest about $3,500,000 : and adding that sum to the 
repairs we have $5,300,000 as the total annual cost of the 
fences as they were in 1870. From the agricultural statistics 
of the Federal census, we find that the gross value of all the 
farm animals in the State in 1870 was $38,000,000, and if we 
deduct $8,000,000 for the sheep which are herded, and $10,- 
000,000 for horses and cows which are never allowed to run 
about, we liave $20,000,000 as the value of the live stock 
against which fences are necessary. The annual profit on 



220 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

these may be fifteen per cent., and the inference is clear that 
one set of land-owners must pay about $4,000,000 to let 
another set make $3,000,000, 

Board-fences are the best. They are iisually made five feet 
high, with redwood posts set eight feet apart, and five spruce 
boards six inches wide and an inch thick in each panel. Such 
a fence, well made, costs five hundred dollars a mile. Worm 
and post-and-rail fences are common near the redwood distiicts 
— for instance, in Sonoma, Mendocino, Humboldt, Marin, 
Napa, San Mateo, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz Counties. The 
farmers generally make their own fences of these kinds, and 
the cost is of time, not money. When the work is done by 
the job, it costs from three to six hundred dollars a mile, 
according to the distance and position of the timber, and the 
quality of the wood : the price increasing in proportion as the 
trees are far off, or situated in deep canons, and as the wood 
is tough and cross-grained. Ditches are common in the tule- 
lands. Hedges are made with willows and cactus in Los 
Angeles, San Bernardino, and San Diego Counties. There are 
a few hedges of osage-orange and gorse, for ornament, in the 
counties about San Francisco Bay, but none for use. The 
osage-orange grows thriftily about San Jose, where it can 
be irrigated, but hedges are liable to much damage from 
gophers, which are fond of the roots ; and if a hole is made, it 
is difticult to get young plants to grow, the older ones choking 
them down. After the third year, irrigation is not necessary. 
In dry land, where water is not abundant for irrigation, the 
hedges do not grow up regularly. In the general opinion ot 
farmers, osage-orange hedges will not pay, even in the land 
best suited for them : the labor of planting the seed, trans- 
planting the sprouts, irrigating, replanting, and trimming for 
three years, costs more than a board-fence, which is useful 
from the first day, and is in no danger from gophers, whereas 
the hedge is useless for three years, and is in constant danger. 

The willow-hedge is the most common fence in Los Angeles 



AGRICULTURE. 221 

County, and is a prominent feature of the scenery near the 
towns. The fence is made with cuttings, the larger tlie better ; 
the largest are three inches in diameter and eight feet long. 
These are planted perpendicularly three feet deep and nine 
inches apart, and then irrigated freely, when nearly all will 
grow and make a good fence in the second year. If larger 
cuttings cannot be had, small ones, half an inch thick and two 
feet long, are taken : only an inch or two is left above ground, 
and four or five years may be required to make a tight fence. 
Twigs and poles are woven horizontally through the hedge. 
In the course of eight or ten years, the willows grow to be 
trees, with trunks five or six inches in diameter, and with 
dense tops from fifteen to thirty feet high. They thus not 
only shut out trespassing animals, but furnish a large amount 
of firewood — an item of no small importance in the woodless 
p]jains of the south — and throw a pleasant shade over the roads 
which they line. The Avillow-fence requires frequent irriga- 
tion, for its growth will usually depend upon the amount of 
water supjjlied to it. 

The cactus was used extensively for fences at the old mis- 
sions, and some fields are still enclosed with it. Tlie plant is 
merely thrown upon the ground, where it takes root, no mat- 
ter how dry or barren the soil, and grows up in a dense 
mass of thick leaves, six feet high and from five to ten feet 
wide. It is covered with thorns, and is feared by all large 
animals, but spermophiles and gophers are fond of burrowing 
under it, for it protects them against their enemies, and its 
leaves furnish them with food. 

Several machines have been made to cut ditches through 
swamps, and throw the dirt up as an embankment on one side, 
but none of them have been very successful ; and the spade is 
still considered the best instrument for making fences in the 
tules. 

§ 158. Varieties of Wheat. — Alany kinds of wheat are 
cultivated here, of which the main are Club, Chile, Australian, 



222 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

Odessa or Old Californian, Red Mediterranean, Sonora, Ore- 
gon White, Bald, and Egyptian. The general division of 
wheat into " winter " and " spring," common in the wheat- 
growing districts of the Eastern States, is nnkuown. All our 
wheat may he set down as spring wheat. When winter 
wheat is brought liere from abroad, it does not thrive tlie tirst 
year ; but in the second year, having been converted into 
spring wheat and acclimated, it yields well. The Chile gives 
general satisfaction, and is more cultivated than any of the 
others. The Australian has a tendency to smut, but this is 
corrected with blue vitriol. These two form three-fourths of 
the crop ; the other fourth is made up chietly of Mediterran- 
ean and Sonora. The Egyptian yields largel}', but has little 
gluten, and is tit only for coarse bread or maccaroni. All 
the acchmated wheat of the State is white ; though im- 
ported red seed shows its color the first year, but in the sec- 
ond year it looses its redness. 

§ 159. Quality. — The qualities iu which the best Avheat 
excels are glutinousness or strength, tlintiness or dryness, 
whiteness of color, thinness of skin, cleanness, plumpness and 
size of berry, and weight. 

The value of wheat depends, to a great extent, upon its 
strength. In this point lies its chief ditference from potatoes, 
which always do and must occupy an inferior place iipon our 
tables. Much gluten in tlour renders the dough tough, 
makes handsome bread, with the air bubbles in it small and 
uniform in size, and retains moisture, so that the bread will 
weigh raucli in ])roportion to the flour used ; while if the 
amount of gluten be small, the grain of the 'bread will be 
uneven, the dough will give way in places, allowing the for- 
mation of large cavities, and less moisture will be retained. 
The wheat of different countries varies greatly in glutinous- 
ness ; and California occupies a very high position. Our wheat 
is far more glutinous than that of any other Xorth American 
State, or country of middle or northern Europe. The conse- 



AGRICULTURE. 223 

quence is, tliat ouv wheat is now in demand in New York and 
England, to mix with their weak grain, so that a tolerably- 
strong iionr may be made. 

But the wheat of California is not all equally glutinous ; 
some of it is much weaker than other. The most glutinous is 
that grown in Santa Clara Valley ; the southeastern part of 
San jMateo County ; the southern part of Alameda County ; 
and Diablo, San Ramon, and Suisun valleys. That of Santa 
Rosa, Pajaro, Salinas, Petaluma,and Sonoma, is much inferior 
in glutinousness, but is better than tliat of the Sacramento, 
San Joaquin, and Napa Valleys, the vicinity of Half-Moon 
Bay, and Alameda, opposite tlie Golden Gate. The strongly- 
glutinous is about one-third of the crop of the State. It is not 
known why the wheat in one district is more glutinous than in 
another. None of that grown very near the coast is strongly glu- 
tinous, so the moisture seems to be injurious. Napa wheat is 
inferior in glutinousness to that of Sonoma, though farther 
from the coast, and more free from ocean-fogs ; but the soil of 
Napa is much more moist. 

In Oregon and Washington, where tlie climate is very moist, 
the wheat is as weak as at Half-Moon Bay. In the Mississippi 
Valley, where a great amount of rain falls, the wheat is also 
weak ; and just in the Gallego and Ilaxall districts, if report 
be true, the rain-fall is less than in any wheat district east of 
the Alleglianies. And yet in the Sacramento and San Joaquin 
valleys, which are among the driest parts of California, the 
wheat is very weak. This is accounted for — by those adopt- 
ing the theory that glutinousness depends entirely upon the 
climate — by saying that those valleys are visited, while the 
grain is in the milk, by weather so hot that the berries are 
burned, and are prevented from attaining tlieir perfect devel- 
oj^ment. It would be well if this matter were thoroughly 
studied, for it is one of much importance to the merchant and 
ship-owner, as well as to the farmer, the baker, and the con- 
sumer. 



224 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

The wheat grown on the clayey loam about Alviso, is not 
so glutinous as that produced on the sandy loam about Santa 
Clara, and the gravelly clay in other parts of tlie valley. It 
is worthy of remark, tliat the soil of the Putah and Cache 
valleys, tributary to the Sacramento, differs in no noteworthy 
particular from the soil in Suisun, Diablo, and San Kamon, 
which latter yield strong, while the former produce weak 
wheat. It has been observed that during late years, the wheat 
of a large farm in San Mateo County, one of the best culti- 
vated in tlie State, has been gradually decreasing in strength. 
It is not known whether the change is caused by a difference 
in the seasons, or by a progressive exhaustion of the soil. So 
far as observations have been made in California, the amount 
of gluten b not affected by early or late sowing, thorough or 
careless cultivation, largeness or smallness of the yield, or 
cleanness of the crop. 

In tliutiness or dryness, Californian wheat has no superior, 
and no equal save in the Chilean. It may be stored in bulk, or 
it may be thrown into the hold of a ship within two weeks after 
harvest, and thea sent twice through the tropics, and there is 
uo danger that it will heat or sweat. The same may be said 
of its flour. Xo wheat or flour from the Atlantic States is 
near it in this respect. In August, 1860, J. B. Frisbie loaded 
a vessel at Yallejo with wheat taken from the harvest-field — 
it had never been inside of a house, but had lain upon the 
ground for several weeks after threshing — and that cargo of 
wheat, when discharged at Liverpool, was as sweet and clear 
from mustiness, mould, sprouting, or fermentation, as it was 
when harvested. Tlie Atlantic flour, when kiln-dried and 
pressed, does not keep like ours as it comes from the mill, after 
havino- gone thither fresh from the threshing-machine and the 
harvest-field. 

The flour made from flinty wbeat is peculiarly suited for 
shipment to tropical countries, where a moister flour soon fer- 
ments and sours. These are excellent markets, for they are 



AGRICULTURE. 225 

certain, they pay well, and there is little competition. Most 
of the flour now exported to the West Indian Islands and the 
Maylasian Archipelago, is of the Gallego and Haxall brands, 
which, because of their dryness and strength, are worth from 
twenty to fifty per cent, more in the market than other floun 
California may not be able to supply the West Indian Islands, 
but she certainly has peculiar advantages for supplying the 
tropical islands and shores of the Pacific. The flintiness of 
our wheat is undoubtedly owing to the dryness of the cli* 
mate, and it is about the same in all the wheat-growing dis- 
tricts of the State. There is no noteworthy difterence in this 
respect between that of the Sacramento Valley and that 
grown on the immediate coast. It is all so dry as to keep 
well in any climate. Millers in New York and Liverpool 
make some objections to our wheat — that it is too hard for 
their millstones ; but this is their misfortune, not our fault. 
The difficulty is remedied by moistening the wlieat before 
grinding. 

Most of the wheat of this State is white, but it is not 
equal in whiteness to that of the Genesee Valley, Oregon, 
Washington, and some other districts of the United States ; 
yet is superior to the wheat of England and of most Euro- 
pean countries. The- fogs give a dai'k color to the wheat 
grown at Ilalf-Moon Bay, in the Pdjaro and Petaluma 
Valleys, and on the Santa Rosa plain; but in the other 
districts a uniform whiteness prevails. 

Our wheat generally has a thin skin, and does not make 
much bran ; but in the districts where the skin is darkened 
by the fogs, there also it is thick. 

Most of the Californian wheat is not well cleaned. It is 
sent to the market containing oats, barley, chess, alfalfa- 
seed, and dirt ; and when shipped to New York must often 
be cleaned there before it can be ground. Our farmers, 
however, are gradually becoming more careful in cleaning 
their wheat. 
15 



226 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

9 

In the plumpness and size of the berry, our wheat compares 
well with tliat of Europe and the Atlantic States, but can per- 
haps claim no decided superiority. Comparing the diflerent 
districts of the State with one another on this point, Suscol 
probably deserves the first place, and N^apa the next. In the 
Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys, the wheat is often shriv- 
eled by hot winds, whicli blow for three or four successive 
days while the grain is in the milk, and seem to blast it. 
Great diiferences are observed, however, according to the 
season. 

The weight of Californian wheat is usually sixty pounds per 
bushel, seldom less — frequently sixt^'-two, and sometimes 
sixty-five ; thus entitling our State to a high position in that 
respect. 

§ 160. Yield. — The average yield of Californian wheat- 
fields is from twenty to twenty-five bushels per acre, wliich is 
about thirty-three per cent, more than in the States on the At- 
lantic slope. An old Spanish book of records, of the Mission 
of San Diego, states that in 1778 %vfe\ye fane gas (a fanega 
is about two bushels) of wheat were sown, and three hundred 
and fifty fanegas were harvested — an increase of thirty-fold. 
The next year, sixteen fanegas were sown, and the yield was 
one hundred and sixty fanegas. In 1780, twenty- four fanegas 
were sown, and eight hundred harvested — an increase of 
thirty-three-fold. San Diego is far inferior for wheat-growing 
to the coast valleys about San Francisco Bay ; and previous 
to the coming of the Americans the ground was not ploughed, 
but only scratched, and the limb of a tree was used for a 
harrow. 

Colton, in his " Three Years in California, " (page 442) 
states that while the priests still had sole control of the missions 
and mission-lands previous to 1833, the niayordomo or steward 
of tlie Mission of San Jose, harvested 4,300 fanegas of wheat 
from 40 fanegas of seed ; and at the next harvest he had a 
volunteer crop of 2,600 fanegas on the same land. The first 



AGRICULTURE. 227 

year, according to this report, the increase was 107-fold, and 
the next year 6o-fold. At the Mission of Soledad, according 
to tlie same author, (page 445) 1 ,700 fanegas were liarvested 
from 19 sown — an increase of 89-fohl ; and in 1827, an increase 
of 58-fold was obtained at San Luis Obispo by scratching the 
seed in with a harrow upon land unploughed, and not even 
touched by tlie thing called a ))lough in those days. Not less 
tlian half a fanega is sown to the acre ; so we may suppose 
that the figures which indicate the increase of the crop over 
the seed, also indicate the number of bushels to the acre. 
Now, a ten-fold increase is considered a fair crop. Crops of 
80 bushels to the acre have often been grown in California. 
Mr. Hill harvested 82 J bushels from an acre in Pajaro Valley 
in 1853, and obtained 6G0 bushels from 10 acres. In 1851, 
Mr. P. M. Scooify harvested 88 bushels, and Mr. N. Carriger 
80 bushels in Sonoma Valley. In 1853, J. M. Horner har- 
vested 1 ,000 acres of Avheat near the Mission of San Jose, 
with an average of 40 bushels, some of it producing 60 
bushels to the acre. The next year he had 2,000 acres, with 
an average of 40 bushels. Large fields of wheat in Eel River 
Valley, according to the repoi-t of the assessor of Humboldt 
County, averaged 73 bushels to the acre in 1857. 

In the best wheat districts of the Mississippi Valley, the 
farmers generally believe, or did believe a few years ago, that 
not more than 45 bushels of wheat ever had been or ever 
could be grown upon an acre ; and when I spoke to exper- 
ienced and intelligent men among them of 60 bushels, I was 
told that not more than 50 bushels could possibly stand upon 
the ground. It is almost imi^ossible tliat there should ever be 
an entire failure of the wheat-crop in California, unless the 
rain should completely fail. After wet winters, the dry lands 
and lulls will produce the best crops ; in seasons of light rain- 
fall, the low, moist lands will take the lead. There are so 
many soils and so many climates in the State, that some must 
be favorable. There is no danger that the grain, when nearly 



228 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

ripe, will be beaten down by the hail, as has happened in Europe 
and the Atlantic States. On only one occas^ion, within my 
knowledge or reading, has it happened that the grain has been 
" lodged " or beaten down by rain, and that was at Suscol and 
Napa in 1860 ; and the damage then was slight. 

§ 161. Cost. — Tlie richest grain land of the State, that in 
the valleys near San Francisco Bay, has been cropped for 
many yeai-s without rest or rotation, and the large yields have 
become exceptional ; and now thirty bushels to the acre is 
more of a rarity than forty was fifteen years ago. The average 
wheat crop of the State was about seventeen bushels per acre 
in 1867, eighteen in 1868, sixteen in 1869, thirteen in 1870, 
and nine in 1871. In the counties bordering on San Francisco 
the yield is considerably larger, but the average for the State 
is reduced by the residts in the San Joaquin Valley, where 
large areas have been cultivated in a shallow and cheap style, 
and a dry and not very strong soil. Gang ploughs are used, 
usually two or five in a gang, sometimes six, eight, or even 
ten, each cutting a furrow ten or twelve inches wide, and 
four or six inches deep. A span of horses is required for each 
plough in the gang, one driver for the entire team. Frequent- 
ly a machine sower and harrow are attached behind the 
ploughs, and thus at one movement the laud is broken, sown, 
harrowed, and prepared for its first harvest. The lightness of 
the soil, the lack of a sod, and absence of stones, bushes, and 
trees, permits the reduction of the land from its wild state to 
cultivation at very little expense — that is, after abundant 
rains have come to soften the earth. 

A sulky gang with two ploughs, each cutting twelve inches, 
drawn by six horses, will dispatch four acres per day ; while a 
five-gang plough, each cutting ten inches, drawn by eight or 
ten horses, will dispatch eight acres in a day, only one man 
being required in each case. The cost per acre of ploughing 
large fields is variously estimated at from forty cents to one 
dollar per acre to the farmer provided with horses and gang- 



AGRICULTURE. 229 

ploughs. Generally the cost of ploughing in small farms and 
on the sti'ong soils is estimated at various prices, from two 
to three dollars per acre. 

The following is an estimate of the expenses of a wheat 
crop in Stanislaus County, per acre : plougliing, $1.25 ; seed, 
50 cents ; sowing and harrowing, 75 cents ; heading and stack- 
ing, $1.25 ; threshing, $1.25; rent $2 ; sacks $1.75 ; hauling, 
$1 ; total $9.75. A yield of twenty bushels to the acre, worth 
$25 in good years, would leave a nice profit. Tlie hauling 
varies greatly in different places, and the prices and seasons 
are so irregular that it is unsafe to rely upon them. 

It is a custom with some farmers in the San Joaquin Val- 
ley to divide their land into three parcels. One is ploughed 
and sown ; another, having lain fallow the previous season, is 
simply sown and harrowed ; and the third is ploughed to lie 
fallow. Another rotation of a less prudent character is to 
plough and sow a third; let another third volunteer for 
grain ; and another vohuiteer a second time for hay. 

Wheat is sown from the first of November to the first of 
April. The most certain crops are those sown early ; the 
largest are those sown late in favorable years. If the amount 
of rain is small or moderate, the earliest sown fields are the 
best ; but if the spring be wet, the early-sown fields are sur- 
passed by those sown about the first of February. Wheat is 
usually sown after barley and oats. The best farmers prefer 
to sow between New Year's Day and the middle of Febru- 
ary. Most of the sowing is done broadcast, but drills are 
used to a considerable extent. One ploughing is, by most 
farmers, considered sufficient. The harvest comes from the 
middle of June to the middle of July. 

§ 162. Parley. — The soil and climate of California appear 
to be particularly favorable to the growth of barley, which 
formed, previous to 1860, a larger proportion of agricultural 
produce here than in any other part of the world. It is a 
hardy grain, preferring a sandy or gravelly soil, and dry cli- 



230 KESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

mate. Three kinds are grown in California — the common, 
the Nepaul, and the chevalier. The Nepaul and chevalier are 
cultivated to a small extent, the latter chiefly for pearl barley, 
of which a little is made in the country. The yield of the 
chevalier is from ten to twenty per cent, less than that of the 
common barley. 

The sowing commences with the first heavy rain, which 
comes in some years as early as tlie first of November, and 
continues to the first of April. Tlie ground used for small 
grahi bakes hard during the heat and drought of summer and 
autumn ; and ploughing is not possible until the rain comes, 
and rain enough to wet the earth thoroughly, at least six 
inches deep. The j^loughs are then set to work immediately, 
running from four to eight inches deep. One ploughing is 
usually considered suflicient. Tlie grain is sown according to 
convenience, soon after the ploughing, or after the lapse of 
weeks, and is immediately harrowed in. The amount of seed 
sown to the acre varies from a bushel and a half to two bush- 
els. The sowing is usually done broadcast, but some farmers 
prefer the drill. Early sowing gives the best yield, if the 
winter rains be light ; but when the rains are abundant, the 
late sown fields are the best. There is always danger that 
small grain in California, if sown early, will get more rain 
than it wants. The same barley is sown early and late ; our 
farmers do not know any thing of " winter barley " as dis- 
tinct from " spring barley " — a division familiar in the Atlan- 
tic States. 

The harvest precedes that of wheat : commencing in the 
Sacramento basin early in June, and in the Coast valleys late 
in the same montli. The grain is all cut with reaping ma- 
chines, and is never housed, but is threshed on the field, with 
or without stacking. Sometimes it is bound ; frequently it is 
gathered in a tight wagon- bed, and hauled into a pile in the 
center of the field, where it remains until the threshing machine 
can come. The rarity of rain from June to October renders 



AGRICULTURE. 231 

this course pretty safe ; though it has happened, on one or two 
occasions during the last ten years, that grain in the iield has 
been injured by September rains. The same land is cultivated 
year after year iu barley, without apparently exhausting the 
land so much as wheat does. A field near Gilroy has pro- 
duced a lai'ge crop of barley every year since 1853, with sow- 
ings only every other year, and without irrigation; but when 
the grain was ripe, hogs were turned in to harvest it, and they 
enriched tlie soil while they fattened themselves. 

Barley crops of sixty bushels to the acre are not rare. In 
1853, a field of one hundred acres, in the valley of the Pajaro, 
produced ninety thousand bushels, and one acre of it yielded 
one hundred and forty-nine bushels ! It was grown by J. B. 
Hill ; was mentioned as undoubtedly true by the assessor of 
Monterey County in his official report ; and a prize was granted 
by an agricultural society for the crop. The field which took 
the prize of the State Agricultural Society in 1859, yielded 
sixty-seven bushels to the acre. The field was a large one, 
and ten acres, (a fair sample of the whole) were measured. 
The crop which takes that prize is not necessarily the largest 
crop in the State, but only the largest among those olFered for 
competition. No doubt, many larger crops were harvested in 
1857. In 1859, ninety bushels of Nepaul barley were grown 
to the acre by Mr. Burrell, in Santa Cruz County, but in a 
small field. Large amounts of volunteer barley are grown 
every year, and the yield is often excellent. One case is re- 
ported of a field in Yolo County, which produced five success- 
ive volunteer crops of barley, the last and least crop amount- 
ing to thirty bushels j^er acre ! 

§ 163. Oats. — The principal varieties of oats cultivated in 
California are the Australian, English, Bare, Feather, Norway, 
and Tucker. The Bare and Tucker oats thrive best on a heavy 
soil ; the Feather oat prefers a sandy loam. The indigenous 
wild oat of California is never cultivated ; for although it pro- 
duces large and tall stalks, they do not contain so much weight, 



232 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

or bear so much grain, as the domesticated oat. The average 
crop is from 30 to 40 bushels to the acre, 30 per cent, greater 
than in tlie Atlantic States. The Crescent City fferald rei^orted 
in October, 1857, that Rigg and Reid, in Del Norte County, 
had grown 125 bushels of oats to tlie acre ; and that John A. 
Brown, of Crescent City, had a crop of 1571 bushels to the 
acre. 

§ 164. 3Ialze. — Maize can be grown to advantage in only 
a few places in California. Most of the land is too dry, and 
the summer nights too cool for it. The principal maize dis- 
tricts are in the valleys of the upper coast, from Russian River 
to Humboldt Bay ; in Yuba County, upon the moist bottom- 
lands of the Sacramento River ; and at the Monte, in Los An- 
geles County, where the San Gabriel River sinks, and hlls the 
plain with moisture. Sixty bushels to the acre is considered a 
large crop ; the average is not over thirty. Corn can be grown 
wherever the land can be irrigated, but this is a troublesome 
and expensive mode of cultivation, though it is not uncommon 
in gardens near San Francisco. Green maize, grown in the 
open air, is in market from June to September. 

The cultivation of rye and buckwheat differs little from 
that of the same grains in the Eastern States. 

§ 165. Potatoes. — The potato tlirives wonderfully in a 
few places in California, particularly at Bodega, Tomales, 
and in Pajaro Valley. The produce per acre is perhaps 
not larger than in Ohio or England, but the tubers are 
larger and smoother. The average size of those sold in the 
San Francisco market is probably fifty if not one hundred 
per cent, larger than of those sold in New York. Potatoes 
six inches long by three inches through, and weighing a^ 
pound, are not uncommon ; many have been seen to weigh 
four pounds, and one grew to weigh seven pounds. I saw 
a cluster that had grown together, eight inches long, six 
wide, and four deep, that weighed eight pounds. A San 
Francisco paper of December 31st, 1872, mentions a sack 



AGRICULTURE. 233 

of potatoes — about 1 20 pounds — every potato weighing three 
pounds or more. They were from Pdjaro Valley. The 
larger specimens were a foot long, four inches wide, and 
two and a half inches thick. 

The soil at Bodega and Tomales, the chief potato dis- 
tricts, is a light, sandy loam, and the mists from the ocean 
supply the abundant moisture which the plant loves. The po- 
tato district of Sacramento County is on the banks of the 
sloughs of the Sacramento River, near its junction with the 
San Joaquin. The soil is very light, warm, rich loam, and the 
vegetables grown there are among the earliest in the market. 
The Californian potatoes are mealy, sound, and palatable ; yet 
in the opinion of many travelers, inferior in flavor to those 
grown east of the Rocky Mountains. The potato-disease has 
never made its appearance in this State. 

The immediate coast, at least north of Point Conception, is 
too cold for the sweet potato, which thrives, however, in the 
Sacramento Valley, especially in the lowland about the head 
of Suisun Bay. The true sweet potato has grown here to 
weigh fifteen pounds — much larger than any I have ever seen 
in the States east of the Mississippi. They lack the mealiness 
and delicate taste which makes the Eastern sweet potato so 
palatable in its season. 

§ 166. Hay. — As most of our farm animals are never 
brought under shelter, and never fed at a trough, rack, or 
stack, the proportion of hay cut here is much less than in the 
Atlantic States and Europe — probably not more than one-half 
as much. There every horse and cow must have hay through- 
out the winter, and many of them through the summer ; while 
here very few cattle are fed with hay at any season of the 
year, and horses not employed are usually turned out into the 
oi:)en plain. The hay of Ohio is cut in cultivated lields from 
tame grasses ; that of California is made of wild oats and in- 
digenous grasses, grown in the open valleys, or of wheat, bar- 
ley, or oats, cut while they are gi-een, usually when the grain 



234 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

is in the milk. If the season threatens to be so dry that the 
field will not pay for liarvesting the grain, then the mowing 
machines are started, and the stutf is saved for hay. 

The haying season comes about the first of 31ay. The old 
adage that " you must make hay while the sun shines," does 
not apply in California, for here the sun shines all the time, 
and the haymaker has ordinarily no fear of rain. It happened, 
however, in 18G0, that a considerable amount of hay was spoilt 
by the late rains in June. The whole process of hay-making 
in California is managed by machinery. It is cut with the 
machine-mower, raked together with horse-rakes into wind- 
rows, and finally hauled together on hay-sleds, which load 
themselves by slii)ping under the heaps or windrows. The 
hand must be used, however, when wagons are to be loaded 
or stacks built. Hay is usually cured in the windrow. It is 
not necessary to turn it by hand, as is customary in the East- 
ern States. One turning and one day in the sun are enough, 
when it is raked together, and is ready for the stack or the 
mow. In Ohio a good field of timothy will yield four tons of 
hay to the acre ; in California the Avild oat stands so thick in a 
few places as to yield as much, but the average crop is not 
over a ton to the acre. 

Tame grasses occupy at present a very small place in the 
agriculture of California. Not one-tenth of the farms in the 
State have an acre of cultivated pasture ; and even in the 
largest farms, containing from three hundred to a thousand 
acres under plough, it is rare to tind a field of timothy, clover, 
or alfalfa. The last mentioned, known also as lucerne, will 
probably become the principal grass grown in the State, since 
it is peculiarly fitted to thrive in our climate and soil. 

§ 1G7. Hops. — The hop grows luxuriantly and produces 
abundantly in California ; and indeed there is good reason to 
doubt whether any country has a climate and soil more 
favorable to it than ours. We have no heavy dews or 
showers in summer to wash ofl" the dust which contains the 



AGRICULTURE. 235 

strength of the flowers, or to cover the plant with bUght. The 
faihires of crops from tliese causes, so frequent in England 
and the Atlantic States, would never occur here. Not only 
is the crop certain, hut it can be cured with more ease and 
in better condition than in other countries. The moisture 
of the air in England compels the hop-growers to dry the 
flowers in the sun or in kilns ; and if a rain fall upon them 
while drying, they are ruined : and they are injured by both 
the sun and kiln-drying. In California, thej^ may be dried in 
the open air, under sheds ; and thus prepared they will be 
superior to any of the European hops. 

§ 158. Tobacco. — Tlie cultivation of tobacco has been at- 
tempted, on a small scale, every year since 1853 ; but the 
product was so small, previous to 1872, that it was scarcely 
worthy of notice, and the business seemed to have no impor- 
tance for the future of the State. Now, however, it promises 
much, chiefly on account of certain discoveries made in the art 
of curing the plant, by J. D. Gulp, who obtained patents for 
cigars and chewing tobacco, and transferred them to the 
American Tobacco Company, which in 1873 had 400 acres 
in tobacco, an area not equaled by any other company or ciil- 
tivator in the Union. 

In curing cigar tobacco, the plant, instead of being hung up 
vertically by tie butt in a barn, according to the old method, 
is by the Gulp method taken into a close building, and there 
put in piles two feet high, and allowed to remain ten hours or 
more, until a temperature of about 100 degrees is reached; 
then hung up horizontally until the surface moisture on the 
leaves dries, perhaps two or three days ; then piled again till 
tliey reach a heat of 100 degrees, usually twenty-four hours; 
and hung ten days or more till dry, and Anally stacked. When 
the plants are put into jiiles the second time, some leaves are 
green, and others yellow, and the green come out yellow, and 
the yellow is converted into brown ; and in the third piling all 
assumes the brown color. TJie stacking in bulk, for six mouths, 



236 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

gives mellowness to the flavor, and brightness and uniformity 
to the tint. The curing, previous to stacking, can be done 
in six, and sometimes in three weeks. The fermentation is in- 
dispensable, and to secure this, the house must be tight, and 
must be provided with heating apparatus, and the tempera- 
ture inside mi;st never fall below seventy degrees. 

Chewing tobacco is hung in the field, on portable racks, soon 
after cutting, and allowed to remain a week or more, till the 
leaves are yellow in general color ; then piled on the ground 
two feet deep (for perhaps twelve hours) till the fermentation 
causes a heat of 110 degrees ; then hung on tlie racks again, 
until the leaves and stalks are dry ; and finally stacked, ready 
for the manufacturer. 

There are two main new ideas in Mr. Gulp's processes — one 
is hanging horizontally, and the other is fermentation in piles- 
The advantages claimed are tliat the tobacco is better in 
quality than any other cured elsewhere ; that it is more uniform 
in quality, and that there is none of the great damage that 
frequently results from very dry or very wet weather in the 
curing season in Cuba and Kentucky. On account of the 
diyness of the atmosphere, the old style of curing would never 
have been profitable here. Besides, under the system of hang- 
ing vertically, the butt up, the sap in the stalk could not run 
into the leaves, and the leaves resting upon each other could 
not dry evenly, thus causing great losses. 

The climate of California is very favorable to the growth of 
the plant, and a large area will probably be cultivated in tobacco 
in a few years, Tlie growing season being much longer than on 
the Atlantic side, the plant after having been cut down grows 
up again, and thus produces two crops of chcAiing and four 
of cigar tobacco from the same stalk. The total average yield 
per acre is 3,000 pounds of cured chewing, and 2,200 pounds 
of cigar tobacco. The old style of cui'ing costs three times 
as much as the Gulp method ; the quality is inferior and the 
yield less. 



AGRICULTURE. 237 

§ 169. Cotton. — About two thousand acres are cultivated 
in cotton in California. The ordinary yield ranges from 250 
to 500 pounds per acre ; and as the price is twenty cents per 
pound, tiie product is much better adapted to shipment for 
long distances, than wheat at two cents a pound. The ex- 
pense of making the crop is about $30 per acre, including $3 
for rent, $2.50 for seed, $2 for planting and cultivating, $20 
for picking, ginning, and baling, and $2.50 for sundries. As 
the lowest yield in an ordinary season is $50 per acre, with a 
good chance for $100, there is a nice margin for profit. The 
cultivation of cotton has been increasing steadily for the last 
four years, but its importance for the future depends to a great 
extent on the irrigation works. When the water is supplied 
to the San Joaquin Valley, cotton will probably claim a large 
area as the most profitable crop. 

§ 170. Kitchen Vegetables. — -The vegetables for the kitchen 
— such as cabbage, cauliflower, beets, parsnijDs, carrots, rad- 
ishes, onions, melons, squashes, pumpkins, green peas, string- 
beans, tomatoes, asparagus, rhubarb, okra, cucumbers, lettuce, 
garden-egg, and so forth — thrive in California, many of them 
beyond example elsewhere. Cabbages weighing fifteen pounds 
are wonders in the New York market ; in San Francisco they 
are common. Whole fields of cabbage-lieads, weighing twenty 
pounds each, have been grown ; and hard, solid heads, with no 
loose leaves, weighing forty-five and fifty-three pounds each, 
are on record. One cabbage, which did not make a head, 
grew to be seven feet wide, throwing out leaves three and a 
half feet long on each side. In many cases the cabbage has 
been converted into a perennial, evergreen, tree-like plant, by 
preventing it from going to seed. Several of these are now 
growing in the State, with stalks from two to six feet high, 
and a foliage that grows through winter and summer. 

The largest squash or soft-skin pumpkin produced in Cali- 
fornia weighed two hundred and sixty jjounds, and the vine 
which bore it had several others weigliing over one hundred 



238 ' RESOURCES OP CALIFORNIA. 

pounds each ; tlie total weight of its fruit being more than 
eight luindred pounds ! Elsewliere, sixty pounds is a very large 
pumpkin or squash ; and there is scarcely a record in tlie At- 
lantic States of a greater weight than one hundred pounds, 
which has been frequently surpassed here. In 1857, one 
squash- vine on the ranch of James Simmons, in Yuba County, 
produced one hundred and thirty squashes, weighing in all 
twenty-six hundred and four pounds ! In the same year, J. Q. 
A. Ballon, at San Jose, grew two squashes, weighing two hun- 
dred and ten and two hundred and four pounds respectively. 

The largest Californian onion weighed forty-seven ounces 
avoirdupois, and measured twenty-two inches in circumfer- 
ence. Our onions generally excel those of the Eastern States 
in size and weight: 

Our largest red beet, (a mangel-wurzel) weiglied one hun- 
dred and eighteen pounds — was five feet long, and a foot in 
diameter. It was three years old. The first year it grew to 
weigli forty-eight pounds, and because of its large size was re- 
served for seed ; but it disappointed its owner, and, instead of 
producing seed the next year, merely kept on growing, and 
reached the size of eighty-six pounds ; and the following year 
srotto a hundred and eis:hteeD. Such beets can be grown in 
abundance. A beet of twenty pounds is a wonder in New 
York or London ; here it is too common to attract more tliau a 
glance. Beets are frequently three feet long, so tliat it re- 
quires no little trouble to dig them out. 

Our largest common white turnip weighed, I believe, twenty- 
six pounds ; our largest carrot, ten pounds ; our largest water- 
melon, sixty-live pounds. Our largest tomato measured twenty- 
six inches in circumference. 

Our kitchen vegetables, grown in the open air, are in the 
market during a greater part of the year than in any State 
east of the Mississippi. We liave cabbage, caulitlower, lettuce, 
turnips, beets, carrots, parsnips, radishes, horseradish, celery, 
green onions, leeks, salsify, and parsley, throughout the year ; 



AGRICULTURE. * 239 

green peas, string-beans, water-melons, cantaloupes, and nut- 
meg-melons, from June to November ; tomatoes from May to 
October ; garden-eggs, green okra, Lima-beans, and Californian 
sweet potatoes, from July to September; asparagus from 
March to June ; and rhubarb from April to July — the months 
being meant inclusively in every instance. These seasons for 
the different species of vegetables are, on an average, twice as 
long as the seasons on the Atlantic slope of the continent in 
the same latitude. Our tables are thus supplied with a great 
variety of fresh and wholesome vegetables throughout the 
year. Another advantage of our climate is, that garden veg- 
etables may be left in the ground all winter. Potatoes are 
sometimes not dug until the first of Janiiaiy, and turnips and 
beets are usually left in their beds until they are to be sent to 
market ; there is never enough cold to freeze them. Potatoes 
are never buried, but after they are dug are piled up in bags 
under a shed, or are placed in a storehouse. 

The cabbage likes a moist air and soil, and thrives best along 
the coast, from Bodega to Santa Cruz. Tiie melons and toma- 
toes like a warm climate, and thrive best in the Sacramento 
Valley — and Putah Valley, wliich is tributary to it — where 
many of the early vegetables for the San Francisco market are 
grown 

§ 171, Fruit. — As a fruit-growing State, California takes a 
high position. In this particular, as in so many others, her 
climate gives her great advantages. In no part of the world 
do fruit trees grow so rapidly, bear so early, so regularly, and 
so abundantly, and produce fruit of such large size. Nor is 
there any other country where so great a variety of. fruit can 
be produced in high excellence. In the matter of flavor, our 
apples, peaches, and strawberries, or most of them, are infer- 
ior to Eastern fruit ; in the flavor of other species we are at 
least equal to other countries. The pear, the plum, tlie apri- 
cot, the grape, and the olive, are peculiarly thrifty, healthy, 
and productive, as compared with the same kinds of fruit else- 
where. 



240' RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

In the Califovnian orchards the fruit trees ai'e trained low, 
the lower limbs being within a foot, or at most two feet, of the 
ground. Men, tlierefore, do not walk under the trees in an 
orchard, or climb after the fruit. One fruit tree in a hundred 
may be trained high, not more. The advantages of low train- 
ing are, that the trees bear fruit earlier ; the trunk is shaded, 
and protected against the disease called the sun-scald ; the 
earth about the roots is kept moist ; and the trees are protected 
against the wind. 

The trees are planted from one-sixth to one-half nearer to- 
gether in the orchards than in the Eastern States. This is an 
additional protection against sun and wind. The ground is 
ploughed several times every summer, and kept clean ; whereas 
in the Eastern orchards it is common to sow grass or cultivate 
vegetables. Our apple trees are free from the borers after the 
first year, and our plum and cherry trees from the curculio, 
though the plum suffers from the aphis, or louse. 

Fruit trees in California are generally as large at two years 
old as they are in New York at three and four years. The in- 
stances of unusually rapid growth here are witliout parallel 
elsewhere. Cherry trees have grown to be fourteen feet high 
in one year ; pear trees ten feet high ; peach trees to have 
trunks from two to three inches in diameter. These were all 
from buds on yearling stocks, and were well provided with 
branches — not trimmed to gain height. These specimens of 
rapid growth were observed on an island near the junction of 
the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers, At Petaluma, a 
cherry tree two years old from the graft, and three from the 
seed, had a trunk seven inches and three-quarters round ; a 
plum tree, three years from the seed, was eleven feetliigh, and 
had a trunk seven inches in circumference ; and a peach tree, 
one year from the bud, was eight feet high and eight and a 
half inches round. 

Mr. E. B. Crocker, of Sacramento, wrote thus in December, 
1858 : *' In January, 1855, 1 planted a small almond tree, 



AGRICULTURE, 241 

with a stem little larger than a goosequill, and which I cut 
down within a few inches of the ground. It is now a tree 
twenty feet high, sixteen feet through the top, with branches 
starting from the surface of the earth. The body below the 
branches is twenty-four inches in circumference. .. .A Glout 
Morceau dwarf pear tree, planted in 1855, when it had grown 
one year from the bud, is now ten feet high, four feet through 
the top, and measures ten inches round the body at the ground, 
branching about one foot from the surface. A Beurre Diel 
dwarf, planted in January, 185G, is now seven feet high, three 
feet through the top, and ten inches in circumference at the 
ground. A dwarf May Duke cherry, planted in 1856, is now 
thirteen feet high, and thirteen and a half inches in circum- 
ference at the ground. An Old Mixon peach, planted in 1855, 
and cut down within a few inches of the ground, is now twenty 
feet high, twenty-two feet through the top, and the trunk 
twenty-eight inches in circumference. A seedling peach, seed- 
planted in January, 1858, is now eiglit feet high and well 
branched, and the trunk four and a half inches in circumfer- 
ence at the ground. The growtli of trees, vines, and shrubs, 
is about double that of similar kinds on the rich prairie-soils 
of Northern Indiana." 

In 1858, a sprig of a peach tree, a foot long, was stuck into 
the ground on the Bay -State ranch ; the next year it bore fruit. 
It may be set down as a general rule that, previous to the time 
of bearing fruit, trees in California make twice as much wood 
in a year as they do in the Middle States. 

In Alameda County, plum trees have grown twelve feet in 
one year from the bud. 

The trees commence to bear fruit at about half the age at 
which they bear in the Atlantic States. An apple orchard in 
New York begins to bear in its fifth or sixth year ; in Califor- 
nia, in its second or third. 

The variety of climates, and tlie freedom from frosts, severe 
16 



242 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

cold, and fixrious storms, protect us against a failure of the 
fruit crop. 

Our apples, pears, apricots, and plums, are larger than the 
same varieties usually are elsewhere ; other fruits are about 
the same in size. 

Dried fruit will probably in a few years occujiy a large place 
among the productions of California, including • raisins, figs, 
prunes, plums, apricots, peaches, apples, pears, and currants. 
At present, the Alden process of drying is considered prefera- 
ble to any other. 

§ 172. Abundance of fruit. — Of the temperate fruit trees 
California has about 4,000,000, including 2,446,000 apple, 
835,000 peach, 356,000 pear, 243,000 plum, 122,000 cherry, 
78,000 apple, 31,000 nectarine, and 19,000 prune. Of the 
apple kind, including apple and pear, there are 2,800,000 ; and 
of the peach kind, including peach, apricot, and nectarine, 
930,000, and the two classes together make up more than 
ninety per cent, of the whole number. 

Of the sub-tropical fruit and nut trees we have 250,000, 
inclnding 59,000 almonds, 58,000 walnut, 50,000 fig, 38,000 
orange, 38,000 olive, and 7,000 lemon. 

Besides these, we have 26,000,000 grape vines, 12,000,000 
strawberry vines, and 1,000,000 raspberry bushes. In all, we 
have 37,000,000 trees, vines, and bushes, bearing fruits or nuts, 
under cultivation, covering an area of more than 100,000 
acres, or nearly half an acre in fruit for every man in the 
State. 

The trees generally are healthy and in good condition. Our 
cherries and plums are not troubled by the curculio, and our 
apples are free from the worms which abound in the Eastern 
orchards. 

§ 173. Grape. — California is a favorite land of the gi'ape ; 
and indeed many of our vine-growers suppose it to be the best 
grape country in the world. The gi'ape region of Califor- 
nia extends from the southern boundary, at latitude 32° 30', 



AGRICULTURE. 243 

to 41°, a distance of five liundred and ninety-five miles from 
north to south, with an average breadth from east to west of 
about one hundred miles. The number of grape vines in the 
State is 30,000,000, including in round numbers 4,000,000 
each in Los Angeles and Sonoma, 2,000,000 each in Napa and 
Sacramento, 1,500,000 each in El Dorado, Solano, and Tu- 
olumne, 1,000,000 eaeh in Santa Clara and Amador, and 800,- 
000 each in Butte, Placer, and San Joaquin. The basin of 
San Francisco Bay, west of the Diablo ridge, has 9,500,000 ; 
the low land of the Sacramento Basin, 7,500,000 ; the coast, 
south of 35°, 5,200,000 ; and the Sierra Nevada has 8,000,000. 
A large majority of the vines are planted in bottom lands, 
where the vines can be started and cultivated with least in- 
convenience, and where they bear most abundantly. 

§ 174. Large vines and vineyards. — The grape vine sup- 
posed to be the largest in the world, grows at Montecito, near 
Santa Barbara. It is of the Los Angeles variety, was planted 
in 1795, has a trunk 15 inches in diameter, and its branches 
are supported by an arbor 115 feet long and 78 feet wide. It 
has in a favorable year borne four tons of grapes, but is now 
losing its vigor and will probably not live much longer. The 
State has a number of other large vines, some of which bear 
2,000 bunches annually, and threaten to rival the old vine at 
Montecito. 

The largest vineyard of the State is that of the Buena Vista 
Vinicultural Association, which has 300,000 vines near the 
town of Sonoma. B. D. Wilson, at San Gabriel, has 200,000 
vines; L. J. Rose, near tlie same place, 130,000; Matthew 
Keller, at Los Angeles, 100,000 ; the Orleans Hill Vineyard 
Company, in Capay Valley, 3G miles west of Sacramento, 
100',000 ; R. Chalmers, at Coloma, 100,000 ; S. L. Wilson, near 
Sacramento, 75,000 ; B. N. Bugbey, near Folsom, 100,000. 
The figures for many other large vineyards are lacking. Most 
of these vineyards are planted with 700 or 800 vines to the 
acre. 



244 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

§ 175, Varieties. — The vine was brought to California by 
the Spanish missionaries, about the year 1770. So far as is 
known, only one variety — that now known as the Los Angeles- 
grape — was brought by them in the last century. It is the 
vine found in all the old vineyai'ds, and in most of the new 
ones south of the bay of San Francisco. Tlie berrj'^ is round, 
reddish-brown while ripening, and nearly black when fully 
ripe, about three-fourths of an inch in diameter at its largest 
size, covered by a strong skin, possessing an abundance of 
thick and very sweet juice, wath little meat, but with no fruit- 
iness of flavor. It has been asserted that this grape is of the 
Malaga variety ; but if so, it has changed so much — perhaps 
while under cultivation in Mexico, whence the lirst cuttings 
that came to California were probably obtained — that it no 
longer resembles its parent stock. 

About 1820, when the missions were established north of 
the bay of San Francisco, a new variety, now called the So- 
noma grape, and said by General Vallejo to be of the Madeira 
stock, was introduced. It is now extensively cultivated in 
Sonoma and Napa Counties and in the Sacramento Valley ; it 
is also found in a few vineyards south of the bay of San Fran- 
cisco. The berry is bluish-black in color ; is covered, when 
ripe, with a grayish dust, which brushes off, leaving a glossy, 
smooth skin ; is about half an inch in diameter at its largest 
size ; has a thin, sweet juice, with more meat and a little fruiti- 
ness of flavor. 

The Sonoma grape makes a light wine, resembling claret ; 
the Los Angeles grape makes a strong wine, resembling port 
and sherry. The two grapes are classed together as the " Mis- 
sion," " Native,'' or " Californiau " grapes, and were the only 
varieties cultivated here previous to 1853. In that year the 
importation of foreign grapes commenced, and now about two 
hundred varieties are cultivated. The Mission graj^es are 
hardy, healthy, long-lived, productive, and early in coming 
into bearing ; but they are surpassed in flavor, hardiness, pro- 



AGRICULTURE. 245 

(luctiveness, earliness of ripening, and earliness of bearing, by 
many foreign varieties, which are not inferior in any respect. 

There were probably two hundred thousand bearing vines 
in the State in 1848, and they still continue productive. Very 
little was done to increase their number until 1856, and then 
the business of grape-growing and making wine for the market 
' was commenced. The new vineyards then set out were planted 
with Mission gi-apes, the only varieties of which cuttings in 
large quantities could be obtained. A few foreign vines had 
been imported in 1853, '54, and '55, by nurserymen, but there 
was little demand for them. When it became clear that Cali- 
fornia would produce wine largely, the foreign varieties came 
into demand. It was not until 1859 that the superiority of 
the foreign grapes, as a class, over the Mission grapes, was es- 
tablished by trial. 

About two hundred varieties of grapes are cultivated in 
California, including the most noted stocks of Spain, France, 
Germany, Hungary, and the Eastern States. All of them 
thrive as vines, but most of them do not give satisfaction, 
either for productiveness or flavor, and are therefore not mul- 
tiplied. In the Eastern States the European vines will not 
live in the open air, the winters being too severe for them ; 
but here we have most delicate varieties from Spain and Mo- 
rocco, side by side with the Catawba and Isabella. 

Flavor is a matter of vast importance in fresh fruit, and 
the want of it is the great defect of the Mission grape, which 
will not command more than one-third of the price of the 
best foreign varieties in the San Francisco market. For wine, 
the foreign grape has an equal or still greater advantage. 
Flavor and fruitiness are not less needed there than in fruit to 
be eaten fresh at the table. The lack of delicate flavor is one 
defect of the wine made from the Californian grape, and the 
evil can only be remedied by the use of the foreign stock. 

For wine, the Zinfindel, Berger, Riessling, Black Malvoisie, 
German Muscat, French Muscat (of Frontignan), Burgundy, 



246 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

Golden Chasselas, and Fontainebleau Cbasselas, are in most 
favor. The white Muscat makes the best raisins ; the French 
Muscat the best vinegar. We have no statistics of the differ- 
ent kinds; but most of the vineyards planted in the last seven 
years are of European varieties, which now probably amount 
to more than one-fourth of all the vines in the State. 

For the table and for raisins, the Muscat of Alexandria is 
more prized here than any otlier grape, on account of its 
large size, and rich, spicy flavor. It does best on a gravelly 
loam, mixed with a little clay, and bears very poorly in rich 
clay loam without sand or gravel. The most productive Mus- 
cat vines ai"e in the Sonoma Valley. In good years it yields 
9,000 pounds to the acre, and the average wholesale price is 7 
cents per pound, making a gross yield of $350 per acre, of 
which $50 may be counted for cultivation, picking, and send- 
ing to market. One of the cliief objections to this grape is that 
in many places it does not " set " well, and then the only way 
to secure a good crop is to pull off some of the blossoms, and 
shake the pollen over other blossoms which are left to bear. 
The vine generally starts out to produce two crops every sea- 
son, but the careful vineyardist plucks off the second set of 
blossoms, for otherwise neither crop would ripen properly. 
The Alexandrian Muscat is the only grape that is good for 
wine, tirst-rate for the table, for raisins, and for long transpor- 
tation. 

The Flame Tokay is prized for its fine ap])earance, and for 
its excellent keeping qualities ; but it is useless for wine, and 
has little flavor. It bears more than the Muscat of Alexandria, 
and has hitherto commanded the same price in the market. 
It may come into demand in the Eastern States. The Queen 
of Nice differs so little from the Flame Tokay, that by many 
it is regarded as the same grape. 

The Rose of Peru is a large firm grape, of fine flavor, yield- 
ing in good years 12,000 pounds to the acre. The price is 
about G cents per pound, but the inferior price is compensated 



AGRICULTURE. 247 

for by tlie superioi* yield as compared ^itli the varieties previ- 
ously mentioned. Tlie Black Hamburg is large, fine in flavor, 
and well suited to transportation, but inferior to the Rose of 
Peru, The Isabella and Catawba, several Muscatels, and 
some varieties of the Chasselas, are good for the table, but 
they do not bear shipment well. The Zintindel, Malvoisie, 
Riessling, Black Burgundy, and Traminer, are excellent for 
wine, but are not in demand for the table. The Mission 
grape, especially when grown in the Los Angeles district, is 
very rich in sugar if plucked soon after ripening ; and if left 
on the vine till November, the sugar changes to spirit, so that 
it becomes highly vinous, and is for that reason preferred by 
some persons ; but it could not be transported from the South- 
ern Coast to the Mississippi Valley with profit, although it 
could be obtained in any quantity at 2 cents per pound. 

§ 176. Advantayes. — The advantages of California for the 
cultivation of the grape are the following : 

1. Californian vineyards produce ordinarily twice as much 
as the vineyards of any other grape district, if general report 
be true. Here, twelve thousand pounds of grapes per acre 
is a crop as common as six thousand in France, Germany, or 
Ohio. Why our vineyards should produce so much more than 
those elsewhere I know not, but the fact is indubitable. 
Crops of twenty thousand pounds per acre have been seen here. 

2. The grape crop seldom fails, as it does in every other 
coimtry. This is owing partly to the fact that we have no 
severe frosts, no hail, and no storms of rain and electricity 
from the time the vine buds until the grape is gathered, each 
of which often causes a total loss of the crops in Europe. 
There is abundant time for gathering the grape ; while in other 
vine countries the rain and frost destroy the fruit after it is 
ripe. The didium — the disease which has done such great 
damage in France — appeared in 1859, but has done little in- 
jury here. ' Certain kinds of bugs and insects, which do much 
harm in European vineyards, have never appeared in Cali- 
fornia. 



248 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

3. Vineyards in other countries require more labor than id 
California. In Europe, the vine is trained witli a stalk four 
feet high, and supported by a pole, which has to be set down 
every year, and to which the vine is tied. Here the stalk 
stands alone. 

4. Tlie equability and warmth of the climate render it easy 
to make wine by fermentation without artiticial heat, whereas, 
in many other grape countries, fires must be kept up in the cel- 
lars through the winter. 

5. Tlie great variety of grapes which thrive here as com- 
pared with every other grape country. 

The disadvantages of California consist in the high pi-ice of 
labor, the bad situation of many of the vineyards, the igno- 
rance of the ]>eople of the arts of wine-growing and wine-mak- 
ing, and the dearness of casks. 

Land suitable for vineyards costs from twenty to one hun- 
dred dollars per acre, whereas it is worth from two to four 
hundred in France ; but there is a counterbalancing diflerence 
in the interest of money. 

§ 177. Vine-planting. — The vine likes a sandy or gravelly 
(not very moist) soil, and never thrives in wet, loamy, or stift' 
clay soil. In California, nearly all the vineyards are planted 
on fiat land ; in Euro]>e, hills ai-e preferred, and in Germany 
the name for a vineyartl is " Weinberg " — a vine-hill. 

Vineyards are planted with cuttings or Avith rooted vines. 
The cuttings are obtained at the annual pruning in January or 
February, are about thirty inclies long, and are all of wood 
less than a year old. They should be taken from vines not 
less than four years old. The rooted vines are cuttings which 
are planted in the nursery and allowed to grow there through 
one season. These latter may be planted out from November 
to March, inclusive ; cuttings from January to March. It is 
not usual to plough more than once before planting, but sev- 
eral ploughings would be better. The vines are planted either 
six and a half or eight feet apart each way : the former dis- 



AGRICULTURE. 249 

tance, giving one thousand vines to the acre, is customary at 
Los Angeles ; the latter, giving six hundred and eighty vines 
to the acre, is preferred in Sonoma and Napa. There is, how- 
ever, no regularity in the vineyards planted of late years ; in 
some places the rows are live feet apart, and the vines three 
feet apart in the row. The plough is always used in cultiva- 
tion, and it requires six feet for convenience of handling. The 
cuttings are set a foot or two feet deep, perpendicularly, leaving 
three or four inches with two buds above the surface. The holes 
are usually made with a crowbar, and after the vine is thrust 
down into it, a little loose sand or pulverized dirt is poured in 
to fill up the hole. Sometimes holes are dug with the spade. 
Unless the ground is moist, the newly-planted vineyard is irri- 
gated, if water can be obtained readily ; for the vine, when 
taking root, likes Avater. During the first year after planting, 
the vine-grower has nothing to do save to plough several times, 
and to hoe down such weeds as cannot be reached with the 
plough ; and to irrigate twice if he has water. The cuttings, if 
properly set, will all grow in a favorable season without irri- 
gation ; but a supply of water about a month after the last 
good rain, and another supply a month later, will double the 
growth of their roots. 

There is very little growth of wood the first year, but it fre- 
quently happens that cuttings bear grapes — one bunch, it may 
be, to a dozen vines. Rooted vines do not bear the first year. 
The next year the ground should be kept loose and clean by 
ploughing and hoeing twice or thrice. Any suckers springing 
out from buds beneath the surface must be broken off, and a 
little pruning is done. In pruning, regard is had to the form 
which the stalk is to have. 

The vine bears fruit on new wood ; that is, on twigs pro- 
duced in the same season with the grape. All the twigs are 
cut off every year, leaving a bare stalk. In the old vineyards 
of California the stalks are from three to five feet high. Of 
late, the more general custom is to make the stalks about fif- 



250 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

teen inches higb. It is observed that the nearer the grapes to 
the ground, the earlier they ripen, and the less liable they are 
to injury from frost and wind. The strongest shoot is selected 
to make the stalk, and it is tied to a little stake stuck into the 
ground at its side, and the other shoots are cut off. It is a 
matter of importance to use the stake so that the vines may 
grow straight up. Vineyards planted with cuttings bear no 
grapes the second year ; those planted with rooted vines may 
bear a few. 

The tliird year, the ploughing and hoeing is the same as the 
second. More attention must be given to the pruning. All 
the twigs are cut off save two or three, which sprout from the 
top of the stalk, and these are pruned so as to leave but two 
buds on each, which are to produce all the wood and fruit of 
the season. This year the vines should produce tliree or four 
pounds of grapes each ; some vineyards have averaged twelve 
pounds to the stalk the third year. 

The fourth year, the five or six twigs all starting from the 
top of the stalk, are left with two eyes each ; and this year the 
yield should be six or eight pounds per vine. Tlie fifth year, 
there should be seven or eight twigs, with two eyes each, and 
the grape-yield should be ten pounds per vine. The sixth year, 
the vine is in full growth, and there should be eight or ten 
twigs, and from ten to fifteen pounds of fruit per vine. About 
the fortieth year the vine begins to decay. After the third or 
fourth year, if the vine has been well trained, it needs no stake 
for support, but stands alone. 

All vineyards do better with irrigation during the first three 
years ; many of them do better without it afterwards. On 
the coast, south of 35°, most of the old vineyards are irrigated ; 
and nearly all of them are planted in places where they can 
be irrigated. 

§ 178. Wme Yield. — According to the State Reports, the 
total production of Californian wine was 4,542,000 gallons 
in 1871; 3,700,000 in 1870; 2,000,000 in 18G9 ; 2,600,000 in 



AGRICULTURE. 251 

1868; 1,800,000 in 1867; 800,000 in 1863 ; and 400,000 in 
1860. The yield in some vineyards has been a gallon to the 
vine, but we could make a gallon to two vines without de- 
ducting anything for the late plantings ; so that really the 
State has the capacity to make 13,000,000 gallons of wine in 
a year. At present, however, many of the grapes are eaten at 
the table ; others are converted into brandy, strong wine, raisins, 
syrups, and vinegar, and some have been allowed to go to 
waste. Many new vineyai'ds have come into bearing within 
the last five years, and the owners have neither learned how to 
make wine, nor found a market for it after it is made ; so that, 
though there has been a rapid increase absolutely in the pro- 
duction of wine, yet in relation to the supply of grapes there 
has been a decrease. Of the 3,700,000 gallons made in 1870, 
Los Angeles supplied 1,000,000; Sonoma, 750,000; Napa, 
297,000 ; Solano, 284,000 ; Placer and Sacramento, each 170,- 
000 ; Calaveras, 136,000 ; and Santa Barbara and El Dorado, 
each 100,000. 

§ 179. 'Wine-making. — The making of wine is considered 
a branch of agriculture. Grapes cannot be transported far 
witliout much loss and expense, and usually those intended for 
wine are pressed in the vineyard where they are grown. A 
few persons having vineyards of their own, and being provided 
with machinery and cellar- room, buy the grapes from adjacent 
vineyards not so well supplied. In all wine coimtries it is the 
general custom that the owners of the vineyards should press 
the grapes, and take care of the must until it has passed 
through its first fermentation. Here they do not sell the wine 
until it is at least six months old. 

Wine-making commences with the ripening of the grapes, 
about the middle of September. The berry is considered to 
be fully ripe when the heart has taken a tinge resembling the 
darkness of the skin ; when the berry is perfectly sweet, and 
comes ofl:' easily from the stem, leaving no juice upon it ; and 
when, on holding a bunch up to the sun, the fibers running 
from the stem into the berry are nearly or quite invisible. 



252 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

The branches are cutoff with a knife, (after the dew or fog, 
if any, has been dispelled) put into a basket, and carried to the 
press. Here the rotten and unripe berries should be picked 
out before the bunches are thrown upon a coarse wire sieve. 
A man presses the bunches upon this sieve, through which the 
grapes fall, some broken and others unbroken, while the large 
stems and leaves will not pass, and are thrown away. Below 
the sieve is the masher, composed of two rollers, ten inches in 
diameter and three feet long, made of iron or wood. These 
rollers, turning toward each other, crush the berries, but do 
not bruise the seeds, which, if crushed, would give a bitter 
taste to the wine. In large establishments a machine called a 
stemmer is used to tear the berries from the stalks before they 
go to the masher ; and the grapes are thrown from a wagon 
with a pitchfork into a hopper that feeds the stemmer. 

The stemmer and masher together crush all the grapes, and 
the best part of the juice is liberated before the press is reached ; 
and that which runs first from the grape is better than the 
last squeezings. Usually the fresh juice of all grapes is free 
from color ; and when red wine is to be made, the crushed 
grapes, as they come from the masher, are thrown with their 
juice into a vat, and allowed to stand six or eight days, at 
the end of which time the alcohol formed by fermentation has 
dissolved the resinous coloring matter in the skin of the grape, 
and then the pressing can be done. 

§ 180. Fermentation. — After the pressing, the red and 
white wines are treated in the same manner. The juice is put 
into large casks, usually those of one hundred and forty gallons 
each, and about one hundred and fifteen gallons are put in 
each. The casks are thus not filled entirely, but a consider- 
able surface of the wine is left exposed to the air. This is to 
favor fermentation, to which the atmosphere is necessary. The 
cask lies upon its side, the bunghole is left open, and in 
three or four days the fermentation begins ; in three or four 
more, its period of greatest ^activity has passed. The temper- 



II 



AGRICULTURE. 253 

ature is a matter of the utmost importance to fermentation, 
the proper degree being about 65° Fahrenheit ; and if the liquid 
be kept either warmer or colder than tliat ligure, it will be in 
great danger of spoiling. The fermentation is accompanied by 
a rising of little air-bubbles to the surface, where they burst, 
making a noise that may be heard by applying ttie ear to the 
bunghole, and which is sometimes so loud as to be heard in the 
cellar at a distance of ten or twenty feet from the barrel. 

After the fermentation has been in progress three or four 
days, the wine-maker pours in six or eight gallons of fresh 
juice every day, until the cask is full; and for several days 
after that he leaves the bunghole still open, and throws out 
all scum that rises to the surface there. When the scum has 
ceased to rise, the barrel is closed, and not disturbed for a pe- 
riod which should not be less than three weeks nor more than 
three months. After this, comes the " racking otF." All the 
liquor, except about foiir inches at the bottom, containing sedi- 
ment, is drawn oif throiigh a syphon, or a cock placed above 
the level of the sediment. The remainder is filtered through 
a doubled cotton cloth, and is then poured in with the clear 
liquor, or used in making brandy. The sediment dej^osited in 
the bottom of the cask within the first three months, is about 
one-twentieth in weight of the juice as it comes from the press. 
After the first racking, the new cask is filled up, the bung is 
put in, and the wine is not disturbed till March or April, when 
it begins to feel a more lively fermentation, for that process 
never ceases entirely. 

It is said that the wine sympathizes with the vine, and that 
whenever tlie hitter is in active development, the former feels 
a peculiar impulse also. Thus, the periods when the vine 
sjjrouts in March or April, wh.en it blossoms in June, and when 
the grape ripens in September, are also "the times when the fer- 
mentation is the most active. At those seasons the bungs 
must be taken oft', or at least loosened, and the barrels must 
not be moved. 



254 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

It is an important point with wine-makers to avoid disturb- 
ing the process of fermentation. Between times, when the 
wine is at rest, it should be racked off, and placed in a clean 
cask. At the end of a year and a half, good, dry, still wine 
has become clear ; but it continues to grow better with age for 
about a score of years, at tlie expiration of which period it 
has acquired a mellowness and delicacy of flavor, and an oili- 
ness of consistency, which neither gain nor lose by longer 
preservation. 

In making wine, much depends on the management of the 
fermentation. The grapes should not be pressed until they 
are between 55° and 70° warm, and it is very important that 
the first fermentation should not be checked by cold, which 
frequently interferes, whereas natural heat very seldom does. 

§ 181. Kinds of Wine. — California makes many kinds of 
wines, the chief classes being the dry, the sweet, the still, and 
the sparkling, the Mis-ion, and the foreign. Dry wine is that 
in which the sugar of the grape is all, or nearly all, converted 
into alcohol. In other words, the process of fermentation has 
been carried through to completion. Claret, Sauterne, and 
the liglit wines generally, are dry, and they are preferred by 
connoisseurs, because they can be drank in considerable quan- 
tities without either cloying the palate or confusing the head, 
and because it is easier for the i»ractised taste to detect adul- 
terations. 

The sweet wines are those which contain part of their sugar 
unchanged ; and, usually, fermentation has been arrested in 
them by either allowing the gra))es to become over-ri})e, and 
thus extremely rich in sugar, or by mixing brandy with them. 
The ordinary ports, sherries, and madeiras of commerce, are 
sweet wines, or imitations of them ; though the Spaniards of 
the Jerez district, and the Portuguese near Oporto, drink dry 
port and sherry, whereas those wines designed for the English 
market are fortified with distilled liquor. Sweet wines usually 
have from fifteen to twenty-five per cent, of alcohol in them, 



AGRICULTURE. 255 

whereas dry wines have ordinarily from eight to fourteen per 
cent. The larger the percentage of alcohol above ten, the 
slower the fermentation ; and when port has twenty per cent., 
it may be kept for weeks in the open bottle in a temperature 
of 70° with very little perceptible alteration ; whereas a light, 
dry wine will begin to turn in a day. Our principal sweet 
wines are the Californian, ports, sherries, and Madeiras. 

The still wines are those wliich do not effervesce when the 
bottle is opened, and they include all tlie strong wines. The 
sparkling wines are those which effervesce Avhen the bottle is 
opened, as sparkling champagne. 

Sometimes water is thrown on the cheese as it comes from the 
press, and after standing a couple of days it is pressed again, to 
make a very light wine called "Piquet." 

Wine is defined to be " the fermented juice of the grape," 
and therefore " Angelica " is not properly a wine, though it is 
usually classed under that title. It is very sweet grape juice, 
preserved from fermentation by brandy, and is considered a 
proper drink for ladies, thoiigh it contains twice or thrice as much 
spirit as dry wine. There are many ways of making it : one 
is to mix a quart of brandy with a gallon of fresh grape juice; 
another, to boil the grape juice down to half its bulk and add 
an eighth of brandy ; another, to let the grapes shrivel on the 
vines, and add a tenth of brandy to the juice, and so on ; and 
it is said that some is made without any brandy. 

§ 182. Defects of our Wine. — Most of the wines of Cali- 
fornia are strong, lacking in delicacy of flavor. The climate 
in the Sacramento basin, and on the coast, south of 35°, is so 
warm that light wine cannot be made couvcuiently. After 
ripening commences, it proceeds so rajndly that before much 
work can be done, an excess of sugar is produced. Spain, 
Portugal, and Italy make strong wines, while the valleys of 
the Garonne, Marne, and Rhine, farther north, supply a lighter 
article. The correction of this evil is to commence pressing as 
soon as possible after a sufficient quantity of sugar has been 



256 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

developed to give eight or ten per cent, of spirit in tlie wine. 
The defects of flavor are partly owing to the bad situation of 
the vines, their bad quality, or the bad management of fer- 
mentation. The low lands in which most of the vineyards are 
planted, though they can be cultivated with little trouble and 
produce most abundantly, will not give the best wine. The 
hills are better fur quality, though Avorse for quantity. The 
main stock of our vines is of the Mission variety, which bears 
abundantly, and yields a berry rich in sugar, sometimes turn- 
ing partly to alcohol on the vine, so that a person Avith a sen- 
sitive stomach will get dizzy from eating a large bunch of 
grapes ; but it lacks aroma and tartness, both of which are 
necessary to high excellence. Many of the foreign varieties 
contain less sugar, more aroma, and more tartaric acid ; and 
they are gradually replacing the others, being set out in all the 
new vineyards, and in some places being used for grafting the 
old ones. The defects of fermentation are chargeable to lack 
of experience and of good cellars. 

The cellar is a matter of great importance to the wine- 
maker. From the moment when the grape juice comes from 
the press until the wine is brought upon the table to be drunk, 
it should be kept in a cellar ; and it is only in a cellar that the 
equability and coolness of temperature proper to favor fermen- 
tation can be obtained. In France and Germany, it is often 
necessary to have fires in the cellars ; and it would be well to 
have them occasionally in California. Indeed, Avine-makers 
generally haA^e no cellars, but only houses. In Los Angeles 
County, much of the w'lue is kept in adobe houses. The sandi- 
ness of the land, the frequent irrigation, and the proximity 
of the vines to the places Avhere the wine is stored, Avould lead 
to the filling of deep cellars Avith Avater ; so the cellars are dug 
only three or four feet into the ground, and an adobe wall 
three feet thick, and a thick covering, render the cellars pretty 
cool. In Sonoma, the Buena Vista Society has a cellar dug 
like a tunnel a long distance into a hill of volcanic tufa. 



AGRICULTURE. 257 

While most of the wine of California does not deserve com- 
mendation, much of it compares favorably with fine qualities 
of European production. There are considerable quantities of 
Californian port, light red wine, and sparkling wine, that can 
■compare on fair terms with good brands from Oporto, Bor- 
deaux, and Rheiras ; and the amounts are steadily increasing. 

At present, nearly all the best light wine comes from Sonoma ; 
but I think the time is not far distant when a large area on the 
coast mountains from Clear Lake to Santa Barbara, near the 
line between the foggy coast ifnd the hot interior climate, will 
be covered by vineyards engaged in the production of light 
wines of tine bouquet. 

§ 183. Sparkling California. — California is now making 
about 200,000 bottles of genuine sparkling wine annually ; 
but if her vineyards were protected by laws enforcing the 
principles of common honesty, and not oppressed by proliibi- 
tory taxes on the distillation of brandy, as at present, tliey 
would probably soon produce five times as much wine as they 
now do. The champagne district of France is not so large 
as the district fit to produce sparkling wine in California, and 
it makes 20,000,000 bottles of sparkling wine, and sells them 
for $12,000,000 annually. 

The business of making the machine-aerated sparkling wine 
is carried on very extensively in the United States, the pro- 
duction amounting to 2,500.000 bottles annually, or as much 
as the total consumption of the genuine sparkling wines. 
The bogus article will not keep, and lias a bad name ; and 
nearly all of it is oti:ered to the public under fraudulent labels, 
in imitation of the favorite brands of champagne. Of course, 
men of high character cannot compete with rogues in such 
business, and the result is, under our present laws, that honest 
men are at a disadvantage. So little capital is required for 
making machine-aerated wine, that the manufacturer may 
move his establishment four or five times a year to escape de- 
tection, and yet throw a large stock on the market. It is said 
17 



258 KESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

that good wine can be made by machine-aeration, but so long 
as the business is conducted fraudulently as at present, it 
would be foolish to expect any excellence in the product. The 
wine is sold by the forged label, and not by its merit. We 
want laws making the imitation of a label a crime, and requir- 
ing a stamp on imitation articles showing their true quality. 
Give us proper legislation, and let us see whether we cannot 
do as well. Tlie. sparkling wine of our State is now far above 
the average of France in quality, and ranks little below, per- 
haps, half a dozen of tlie best French ; and we are fully pre- 
pared now to profit from legislation to protect, not simply home 
production, but common honesty. 

§ 184, A2)2^les. — The Spanish Californiaus had a few apple 
trees, but they were seedlings of a poor class. The first good 
apples were impoited from Oregon, in 1849 ; but the vai'ieties 
were few and the trees did not thrive. Either the stock was 
not the best, or the change of climate had an injurious influ- 
ence on them. In 1852 a few trees were imported by way of 
the Isthmus of Panama ; other importations followed very rap- 
idly, and now the State has millions of trees in nursery, and 
about eight hundred thousand bearing trees in orchard, includ- 
ing two hundred varieties, the best of Europe and the Atlan- 
tic States, both standard and dwarf trees. 

Apple-trees are usually planted from twelve to thirty feet 
ai^art, fourteen or sixteen being the more common distances. 
This is much closer together than is customary in the Atlantic 
States : the reason for the denser planting here being to pre- 
vent injury by the wind, and to keep the earth moist by shad- 
ing it against the sun. The apple-tree comes into bearing in 
the third year in California, about two years earlier than in 
the Eastern States. It also grows more rapidly, a yearling 
tree here being as large as a two-year old tree in Ohio. Grafts 
on yearling stocks liave been known to grow six and eight 
feet in a season — twice as long as similar grafts will grow in 
the Middle States. The fruit usuallv arrows larger here than 



AGRICULTURE. 25'9 

tslsewhere. The Gloria 3[uncll apple, which elsewhere seldom 
exceeds fourteen ounces in weight, in California frequently 
reaches twenty ounces, and some have attained the great size 
of two and even two and a half pounds. 

The climate seems to have a tendency to ripen apples 
more thoroughly than in other States. Those varieties which 
are grown for winter use elsewhere, are here generally con- 
verted into autumn apples, and only a few will keep to New 
Year's Day. Our list of winter apples is very short, and 
some years will pass beforeVe can in this respect equal the 
Middle States. 

The flavor of our apples is not equal, as a general rule, to 
that of the apples grown on the Atlantic slope. They are less 
juicy and more mealy. Some varieties, however, are better 
here than in the Eastern States. Great variations are observed 
in different parts of the State : an apple may be excellent when 
the tree grows in the hot summer and cool winter high up on 
the Sierra Nevada ; and be of poor quality if grown in the 
equable temperature of the coast. 

The trees grow so rapidly and bear so abundantly, that some 
persons suppose onr orchards must be short-lived ; but the fruit- 
trees of the old Missions, many of them forty years old, are 
still in excellent health and full bearing, and have not failed 
at any season during the last score of years to produce a good 
crop. The indigenous trees in our valleys have a thriftiness of 
growth and a precocity of development similar to our culti- 
vated fruit-trees, and yet have a longevity equal to that of the 
similar species east of the Mississippi, where the summers are 
shorter, the winters colder, the annual growth less, and the 
development of the reproductive power later. 

The best varieties, so far as ascertained, about the bay of 
San Francisco, are the Summer Pearmain, Red Astraklian, 
Red June, and Early Harvest, for early apples ; the Porter, 
Gravenstein, and Summer Queen, for late summer apples ; tlie 
Baldwin, Roxbury Russet, and Rhode Island Greening, for 



260 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

fall apples ; the Goldeu Russet, the Northern Spy, the Yellow 
Newtown Pippin, the White Winter Pearmain, and the Spitz- 
enberg, for winter apples. The best cider apple is the Smith's 
Cider. In the Sacramento Valley the Newtown Pippin, 
Swaar, and Rawles Jeannette, are considered the best winter 
apples; on the slopes of the Sierra Nevada, from 1,000 to 
3,000 feet above the sea, the Spitzenberg and Wine Sap are 
preferred. 

Of the apple-trees in the State, there are 1,100,000 in Santa 
Clara, 200,000 in Sonoma, 90,000 each in Sacramento, El 
Dorado, and Alameda, 55,000 each in Placer and Napa, and 
50,000 each in Santa Cruz, San Joaquin, and Humboldt. 
Most of the orchards are not profitable, and no large ones 
have been set out of late years, 

§ 185. Peaches. — The peach-tree grows very rapidly, comes 
into bearing very early, and produces abundantly, in Califor- 
nia ; but suffers with " the curl." Tiie varieties most free 
from that disease are the Late and Early Crawford, the Late 
Admirable, and the Smock. In the valleys and near the ocean, 
the peaches are inferior in size and flavor to the same varieties 
on the Atlantic slope; but in the Sierra Nevada they are fully 
equal to the Eastern fruit. The peach does not thrive in the 
high winds about San Francisco Bay. The trees are usually 
set out in orchard when one year old from the graft or bud ; 
in the second year after that, they begin to bear. 

§ 186, Pears. — The pear is the most productive and liealthy 
of the fruit-trees of California. It thrives in all parts of the 
State, and everywhere its fruit is delicate in flavor and large in 
size. There are pear-trees at San Jose which produce twenty- 
five hundred pounds, or forty bushels each, of fruit annually. 
The pear was more cultivated by the Spanish Californians 
than any other fruit ; but their varieties were not good, and 
most of the old trees have been grafted with varieties brought 
from the Atlantic States during the last eight years. The 
varieties most prized are the Madeline, Bloodgood, Diane 



AGRICULTURE. 261 

d'ete, Dearborn's Seedling, Seckel, and ■ Bartlett, for summer 
pears ; and the Winter Nelis, Glout Morceau, and Easter 
Beurre, for winter. 

§ 187, Apricots and Plums. — The apricot thrives well and 
bears abundantly, especially in the warmer parts of the State. 
The fruit, however, in some places, is much eaten by bugs and 
bees. The bugs — some of them of the kind commonly called 
" Lady-bug," and others similar in appearance and size — eat 
holes in the apricots before they are ripe ; and the bees, which 
never break the skin, eat at the holes which tlie bugs have 
commenced. The apricot-tree is more healthy than tlie peach, 
and produces more abundantly ; and its fruit supplies the place 
of the peach in many districts. 

§ 188. Olives. — For the cultivation of the olive, California 
has great advantages. The tree is very healthy, and always 
bears abundantly ; whereas in Italy and Greece, whence most 
of onr olive oil comes, the crop is frequently destroyed by 
summer rains, blight, and insects, all of which causes of trou- 
ble are unknown here. There, it is expected that the crop will 
fail one year in three, whereas here no failure has ever been 
known. The number of our olive-trees is small, many of 
those in full bearing having been planted half a centmy ago. 
Nor is it likely that thei-e will be a rapid increase. The tree 
does not come into bearing until ten years of age, at least not 
in Europe ; but it will live and continue in bearing for five or 
six centuries. Most of the bearing olive-trees are at Los An- 
geles, San Fernando, San Gabriel, Santa Barbara, San Diego, 
and San Juan Capistrano. The olive-tree resembles a willow in 
the form and color of its bark, the shape and proportions of 
its trunk and branches, and the size, color, and distribution of 
its leaves. The trees are grown from cuttings or shoots, which 
latter frequently sprout from the large trees near the surface 
of the ground. A large olive orchard in full bearing will 
prove an excellent income, for the fruit and the oil are in de- 
mand. One cause of the unwillingness of many persons to 



262 

plant olives, is the difficulty in getting fine vaneties, most of 
the old stock at the JMissions being small and bitter, and not 
the best either for oil or pickles. 

§ 189. Orange, — Tlie orange thrives and bears in the Sac- 
ramento Valley, as far north as latitude SS'^ 30' ; but along the 
coast south of 34° 30' it is one of the most profitable trees, 
besides being highly ornamental, with its dense, glossy ever- 
green foliage and fragrant blossoms, and its bright, golden 
fruit, which covei-s the trees for a lai-ge part of the year. A 
good tree, ten years old, will bear a thousand oranges annually ; 
and the average price of these, delivered at the orchard, varies 
from $10 to $30, or $500 to $1,500 per acre. Some trees at 
Sacramento, Auburn, Oroville, Putah Valley, Sonoma, San 
Lorenzo, and Martinez, have borne well, but the cultivation 
has not been extensive enough to satisfy farmers that large 
orange orchai-ds there would be profitable. More trees, how- 
ever, are being set out. 

We have no exact information as to the time when the or- 
ange was introduced into California, nor from what stock the 
old orange-trees came. Probably the first missionaries 
brought orange-seeds with them from Lower California, that 
stock having come from the indigenous trees along the west- 
ern coast of Mexico. Tlie seeds were ])1 anted at various old 
Missions, such as San Diego, San Fernando, San Juan Capis- 
trano, and so forth. The trees grew, were planted out, bore 
well, received little attention or cultivation, and some of them 
are still standing as monuments to the industry and enterprise 
of the old friars. Tlie orange is at a disadvantage, in being 
mifit for drying, as grapes and figs are, or fin- pickling, like 
olives; and its cultivation is exposed to serious drawbacks, 
among wliich are injury by gophci-s, ground squirrels, and 
scale bugs, and by dependence on an abundant supply of 
water. No orange orchard thrives without irrigation, and 
several orchards in tlie vicinity of Santa Barbara do not 
bear, for unknown reasons. Mr. Evans, in the Overland 



AGRICULTURE. 263 

Monthly for March, 1874, thus estimates the cost of ten 
acres of orange orchard, in the first year, viz : land, $300 ; 
fencing, $300; 600 trees, two years old, $125; planting, 
$300 ; ploughing, replanting, and other incidentals, $200. 
Total, $1,425, The trees begin to bear at the end of seven 
or eight years, but do not yield a good crop until two or three 
years later. The cost of managing ten acres of orange or- 
chard, in full bearing, is estimated at $3,130 per year, and 
the receipts at $15,000, leaving $11,870 profit. The soil 
should be a rich, sandy loam, with good drainage. Adobe 
soil will not do. Mr. Evans gives the prices of trees in the Los 
Angeles nurseries : trees five years old sell for $3 each ; four 
years old, $1.50; three years old, 40 to 60 cents; two years 
old, 3 to 20 cents ; one year old, one-half cent ; all by the 
hundred. Imported oranges from the Hawaiian and Society 
Islands are picked before maturity, thus injuring their flavor, 
or sutfer a loss of fifty per cent on the voyage, giving the do- 
mestic oranges a great advantage in the market. 

§ 190. Berries. — Raspberries and blackberries were culti- 
vated extensively eight or ten years ago for the San Francisco 
market, but are now out of favor. Cherry currants are 
grown with a profit ; of gooseberries Ave have few. 

Strawberries are cultivated extensively in Santa Clara 
County for the San Francisco market. Tlie best fields of 
vines in their third and fourth years will yield from 4,000 to 
6,000 pounds per acre, and the wholesale price in this city may 
be six or seven cents per pound, making a gross yield of $240 
to $420 per acre. The cost of picking is 2 cents, of railroad 
freights J cent, drayage in San Francisco ^ cent, and com- 
missions 8 per cent. The amount received is sometimes from 
60,000 to 70,000 pounds daily, indicating a lively consumption 
for a city of 180,000 inhabitants. The strawberries are mostly 
grown on the shares by Chinamen, who give half the crop for 
the land. As the vines produce nothing the first year, and 
the Chinamen are poor, the land-owner usually loans his credit 



264 ' RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

for provisions, and clears $100 per acre. Six Chinamen do 
the work on ten acres of strawberries, except in the picking 
season, when three extra men are employed to tlie acre. 
Strawberry fields have fallen into the possession of the Chinese 
within the last five or six years, and the profits to the land- 
lords are greater than under the old system of paying wages. 
It would be impossible to grow the berries profitably without 
Celestial help, and except in a few moist spots without irriga- 
tion, 

§ 191. Ornamental Gardens. — Professional gardeners say 
that California is better fitted by nature tlian any part of 
Europe or the Atlantic slopes to have beautiful ornamental 
gardens. Our shrubs are more numerous, grow larger, remain 
green longer, and have a longer blooming season, than those 
of other States. The rose, the daisy, the pansy, tlie a3lys- 
sum, the clyanthus punceus, the flowering verbena, the holly- 
hock, and the calla, or Ethiopian lily, bloom here in the open 
air every month in the year. The honeysuckle, metrosideros, 
and myrtle, bloom from March to December ; the geranium 
and snow-ball from April to October ; the violet from October 
to May ; the pittosporum from November to March ; the 
spireas and flowering almond from JMarch to June ; and the 
camelia japonica from January to May, all in the open air. 
Persons at all familiar with the cultivation of these flowers in 
New York, will observe that the blooming season here is, on 
an average, fully double its length there. Not only do they 
bloom in the open air, l>ut they retain their leaves through 
most of the Avinter montlis, so that our gardens are never bare 
and cheerless, as they are in the Atlantic winters. I have seen 
a rosebush bearing twenty full-blown roses in January, and 
that in the open air, with no assistance from artificial heat, 
and no protection save tliat of clambering up a brick wall on 
the soutliern side of an unoccupied house. Our roses are larger 
as well as more abundant tlian in the Eastern States, but their 
perfume is not so strong. The delicate European varieties, 



AGRICULTURE. 265 

which die in the winter of Pennsylvania, abound in our gar- 
dens. Among the favorites are the Pauline, Malmaison, 
Madaine LatFa}^ Model of Perfection, Raglan, Hopper, Giant 
of Battles, Prince Charles, Devoniensis, Lamarck, Clara Wen- 
del, Glory of Jena, and Agrippina. 

A marked feature of our ornamental gardening is our ability 
to cultivate in the open air many plants which can only be 
preserved in this latitude east of the Rocky Mountains un- 
der glass, and with the aid of artificial heat. These plants 
are too numerous to be all specially named here ; but some 
of the more important are the geranium, fuchsia, orange, 
camelia japonica, laurastinus, myoporum, ericas, casuarina, 
daphne, eucalyptus, metrosideros, and thirty varieties of 
acacia, twenty of them from Australia. It might be al- 
most said that we have no hot-houses in the State, but 
only green-houses, for it is scarcely ever necessary to make 
a fire, even to protect the most delicate of tropical plants. 
Our climate is very favorable to the gi'owth of evergreens, es- 
pecially to those strange and beautiful ones from Australia, 
with the graceful growth, and the brilliant, feathery foliage. 

Among the creeping vines grown in California is the 
Australian bean, which has a dense, bright, evergreen foliage, 
and abundant flowers throughout the year. It climbs strings, 
and is therefore well suited to shade verandas, and to grow in 
the front of porticoes. 

The rose, the honeysuckle, the veronica, the oleander, the 
laurastinus, the euonymus japonica, and the verbenas — espe- 
cially tlie lemon verbena — may safely be said to make twice 
as much wood in a year as tliey do on tlie Atlantic Coast. The 
geraniums in San Francisco are almost trees. Rose-sprouts 
often grow twenty feet in a season, and other plants in propor- 
tion. Tliere is scarcely any tree or shrub cultivated in the At- 
lantic States which does not thrive equally as well here, except 
the weeping willow. 



266 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

California has thus far furnished very little for our gardens. 
There are many singular plants in our mountains, but few have 
found favor with our gardeners. Tlie ceonothus is the chief or- 
namental slirub, indigenous in California, adopted for cultiva- 
tion. 

§ 192. Arbor Iculture. — The cultivation of forest and shade 
trees is yet very limited in California. For timber purposes 
the blue gum or eucalyptus globulus is preferred, on account 
of the rapidity of its growth, and the strength, hardness, and 
durability of its wood. Several other species of the eucalyptus 
are also in favor. The black locust grows rapidly, but is in 
some places injured by insects, and it gives trouble by the 
numerous sprouts that rise from its roots. In the interior 
towns the scycamore, Cottonwood, native willow, Lombardy 
poplar, the ailanthus, and the Eastern and California maple, 
are used for shade ; but in the gardens near the middle coast, 
where the summers are not very warm, and shade not much 
needed, the Monterey cypress, Monterey pine, and Lawson 
cypress are preferred, on account of their beauty, the density 
of their foliage, the regularity of their growth, and their hardi- 
ness. 

§ 193. Pests of the Farmer. — Certain " pests " of the farmer 
must be mentioned here, among which are the spermophile, 
gopher, grasshopper, locust, grape-bug, orange-bug, army- 
worm, Canada thistle, mullen, dock, fern, and so forth. Of 
the spermophiles and their habits I have spoken in the chapter 
on the zoology of the State. The amount of mischief which 
they do is very great. The most effective means of driving 
them off are poisons, chiefly strychnine and pliosphorus. About 
a drachm of strychnine is dissolved in a quart of whisky, and 
then the solution is poured over dry wheat, in such quantity 
that the surface of the liquid is just on a level with the top of 
the grain. In the course of twelve hours the wheat absorbs 
all the liquor, and a few grains may then be thrown in front 
of every squirrel hole. Another method of preparation is to 



!| 



♦AGRICULTURE. 267 

cover a pint of wlieat with boiling water, and keep hot till all 
the water has been soaked up ; then pulverize an ounce of 
strychnine, mix it well with the hot wheat ; add two ounces of 
brown sugar, and stir that up witli the mass ; then add four 
ounces of corn meal to serve for drying and covering the moist 
kernels. Wheat thus prepared will keep a long time after it 
is dried, and three or four grains dropped in a squirrel hole 
will have a percei)tible eifect. Pieces of watermelon and of 
sweet apple, sprinkled with powdered strychnine and placed 
near the squirrel holes, are good. 

Phosphorus is dissolved by hot molasses or water. The 
molasses with phosphorus is mixed with wheat and flour, and 
small quantities of the mixture are dropped into the holes. By 
another method the wheat is soaked in boiling water until it is 
soft, when the water is drawn oif, and a stick of phosphorus 
three inches long ])ut into the hot water, melts in ten minutes, 
and tlie wheat is stirred about well, so that the melted phos- 
phorus will touch every grain. The wheat is then poured 
upon some bran, in which it is rolled, so that every kernel may 
be covered ; and the grain is ready for its purposes of destruc- 
tion. A couple of kernels will kill a squirrel ; and if a cat 
eats the squirrel, it will kill him ; and if a raven picks out the 
eyes of the cat, he will die too. Such a progessive destruction 
has been observed more than once in California. 

The squirrels may also be killed by soaking a rag in kero- 
sene, sprinkling it with sulphur, setting it on tire, throwing it 
into a squirrel hole, and filling the mouth of the hole carefully 
with dirt, and of every other hole where the smoke appears in 
the vicinity. Sometimes several burrows are connected. In 
one case eighty squirrels were thus killed witli one i-ag. A 
bellows with a chamber for burning sulphur has been devised 
for blowing poisonous fumes into the holes. But in defiance 
of these ingenious methods to destroy them, the pests are still 
numerous. 



268 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

The gopher may be poisoned with pliosphorus or strychnine, 
and may be caught more readily with traps than the sper- 
mopliile. In the chapter on zoology I have described tlie trench 
used for keeping gophers out of orchards and gardens, and for 
catching them. 

The grasshoppers are the greatest pests of the farmer in 
California, and several times during the last fifteen years they 
liave eaten every green thing within large districts. They 
come in millions upon millons, and darken the air, moving for- 
ward at the rate of a mile or two a day, and leaving no grass 
or leaf behind them. Grains, grass, weeds, kitchen vegetables, 
and fruit trees, are alike eaten bare of every green particle. 
Grasshoppers are abundant in countries where the summers are 
dry, the winters warm, and the vegetation vigorous ; and if a 
large extent of land be uncultivated, they will occasionally be 
so numerous as to destroy every green thing. They are bred 
in the hills of California, and after dry winters descend into 
the valleys, usually content to eat the wild grasses, but some- 
times attack the cultivated fields. There is no known method 
of killing them after they have entered a field, or of driving 
them away from it ; but they may be kept out by digging a 
trench, putting straw in it, with some moist straw on top, and 
then setting fire to it. The grasshoppers do not like the fire 
and smoke, and will try to avoid them. 

Under the head of the grape and the orange, I have spoken 
of the bugs which infest them. The army-worm and weevil 
have been seen in California, but have done little damage as 
yet. Tlie curculio is not known in the State. The Canada 
thistle, the mullen, and the dock, have been introduced, but 
have not yet given much trouble. 

§ 194. Irrigation. — According to the State Surveyor-Gen- 
eral's statistics for 1871, California had in that year 915 irri- 
gating ditches, supplying water to 90,344 acres — an average 
of about 100 acres to the ditch. Siskiyou is credited with 180 
ditches, and 6,900 irrigated acres; Tulare, with 110 ditches 



il 



AGRICULTURE. 269 

and 5,000 acres; Mariposa, with 60 ditches and 210 aci-es; 
Los Angeles, with 52 ditches and 18,200 acres; Tuolumne, 
with 2 ditches and 15,000 acres; San Joaquin, with 2 ditches 
and 3,000 acres ; Alpine, with 2 ditches and 2,500 acres ; and 
Calaveras with 27 ditches and 272 acres. 

Most of the irrigation works which existed before 1872 were 
of little relative importance ; they supplied less than one acre 
in a thousand, and most of them were very costly, compara- 
tively, on account of their small size. California is now about 
to enter on the era of irrigation. The first of the new ditches 
— that of the San Joaquin and King's River Canal and Irriga- 
tion Company — supplies 15,000 acres with irrigation this year. 
It is thirty-eight and a half miles long, fifty-five feet wide, 
four feet deep, has a descent of one foot to the mile, and runs 
northwestward from the bend of the San Joaquin River. 
About half of the land irrigated is in grain, and half in al- 
falfa. The experience so far is most encouraging, the iri*igated 
land all producing large crops, even where tlie soil is poor ; 
while the richest soil, above the level of the ditch, yields 
nothing. In addition to the 15,000 acres, 60,000» more can 
be irrigated from this ditch, so far as completed. It is pro- 
posed to extend the ditch forty miles, to San Joaquin City, on 
the San Joaquin River, with a grade of half a foot to the mile. 
Tlie extension will supply water to 250,000 aci'es, making the 
total area for the entire ditch, 325,000 acres. At twenty 
bushels to the acre, that ditch alone will secure a production 
of 6,000,000 bushels of wheat from a district that was long 
considered worthless for tillage, and that has never yet pro- 
duced 60,000 bushels, though thousands of acres have more 
than once been sown there. 

The King's River Irrigation Company take out water from 
King's River, where it enters the San Joaquin plain on the 
north side, Tlie ditch is thirty feet wide and three feet 
deep, with a grade of a foot to a mile. The supply of water 
is sufficient for 300,000 acres, and there would be no serious 
difliculty in enlarging the canal to take out all the water. 



270 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

The Fre?5iio Canal was constructed by FrieLllander, Chap- 
man, and Hou'ard, to take the water from Fresno River, 
where it strikes the plain. The main canal is ten miles long 
and forty feet wide, with a grade of eight-tenths of a foot to 
a mile, with capacity to irrigate 40,000 acres; and it is to be 
supplied with a reservoir a mile and a half long, a hundred 
feet wide, and ten feet deep. The district to be irrigated is 
known as the Alabama Settlement, south of the Fresno River. 

Chapman, Miller & Lux have made a canal, tapping the San 
Joa(pun twelve miles above the bend, and running northward, 
nearly parallel witli the stream below the bend. It is thirty 
miles long, tliirty-live feet wide, and three feet deep, witli a 
grade of a foot to a mile, and capacity to irrigate 50,000 
acres. The land covered by this ditch belongs to the three 
ditch-builders. 

There are several considerable irrig;atiuo; ditches in the east- 
ern part of San Joaquin County, and in Kern and Yolo Coun- 
ties. 

Assertions liave been published repeatedly that the con- 
struction of 'large canals would tend to throw the land irri- 
gated into the same ownersliip with that of the water supply, 
and thus would not only prevent the sale of the large tracts 
now held by single individuals to small farmers, but would 
compel the sale of many tracts to the ditch-owners. G. P. 
Marsh claims to have observed such results in Lombardy, but 
he may have misunderstood the causes. All the experience of 
our continent tends to prove that the number of independent 
land-owners increases with the substitution of tillage for pas- 
turage, and again with the substitution of horticulture for 
grain-farming on dry soil in a dry climate. The cultivation 
of irrigated land is horticultural in its tendencies. Twenty 
acres of irrigated land may demand as much labor, and pay 
as much gross revenue, as two thousand do without artificial 
water sujiply, if kept merely for wild pasturage. The size of 
the farms depends on the quantity that a farmer can aftbrd to 



AGRICULTURE. 271 

buy, and can profitably use, with his supply of capital ; and 
as irrigated land is much dearer, and requires a larger expen- 
diture for cultivation by the acre, it is evident that the aver, 
age farmer can neither buy nor manage one-tenth so much as 
he could of dry valley land. Tliese principles must be quite 
clear to men of intelligence ; and they are verified by the 
results. We find, fur instance, that in Utah, where the tillage 
is done almost entirely by irrigation, the average size of the 
farms is only thirty acres ; and in Wyoming, where irrigation 
is also necessary, the average is twenty-five acres ; while 
Rhode Island and Massachusetts, the next lowest, have more 
than ninety acres, and California, under the infiuence of its 
large dry ranches, four hundred and eighty acres. If we com- 
pare the coimties of California, Ave find that one-half of the 
farms in Los Angeles are between three and fifty acres in size, 
or more than twice as many, relatively, in 1870, as in Mon- 
terey and the San Joaquin Valley, where there were then few 
irrigating ditches. It is notorious that there are more land- 
owners and more thorough cultivation in proportion to the 
area at the cities of Los Angeles, Anaheim, and San Jos^, the 
chief irrigation centers of the State, than in any dry -soil dis- 
tricts. This should be a complete answer to those Avho argue 
that irrigation will help to concentrate the ownership of the 
land in the hands of a few, and reduce the farm laborers to 
greater dependence. 

§ 195. Reclamation. — The reclamation of the tule and 
swamp land is a matter of vast importance to the future of 
California. The tule land occupies three million acres along 
the banks of San Francisco, San Pablo, Suisun, and Hum- 
boldt Bays, and the San Joaquin and Sacramento Rivers, the 
greater portion of it being in the lieart of the State. The soil 
is rich, and needs only to be protected against Hoods and high 
tides, to equal in production the best land in the State. This 
protection is afibrded by dykes, twenty or thirty feet wide at 
the base, and five feet at the top, with a height varying from five 



272 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

to ten feet. Tliis embankment costs ten or eleven cents per 
cubic yard, and the ordinary cost of reclamation ranges from 
$5 to $20 per acre, according to the varying circumstances. 
The legislature of 1872 j^assed an act authorizing the sale of 
bonds to pay for the reclamation of the several tule districts, 
the bonds to be a mortgage on the district reclaimed. It was 
supposed that bonds to the amount of $20,000,000 would be 
sold under this act ; but there is no sale for them, except at a 
discount of fifteen or twenty per cent., and the land-owners do 
not wish their land reclaimed at such loss. It is suitposed that 
a better price can be obtained after the passage of an act to 
remedy some of the defects of the statute of 1872. About 
100,000 acres have been partially reclaimed already. 

§ 196. Products of our Herds. — We can estimate the but- 
ter of the State to be worth 35 cents per pound, or $2,450,000 ; 
and the cheese 20 cents, or $680,000. The amount of milk sold 
annually is 3,700,000 gallons, which brings about $1,000,000 to 
the dairy-men. In 1872 the exports of hides were worth $170,- 
000; of horns, $11,000; of bones, $6,000; and of wool, 
$7,750,000. The value of the animals slaughtered annually 
is $6,100,000. These figures give us $18,137,000 as the an- 
nual value of the products of our herds, exclusive of the hides 
tanned into leather, and of the services of draught and riding 
animals. 

§ 197. Sheep. — The climate of California is peculiarly fa- 
vorable to the growth, increase, and health of the sheep. Our 
mild winters permit them to grow throughout the year; and 
it is an accepted principle among those familiar with the sub- 
ject, that a sheep, born and bred in Califurnia, is, at two years 
of age, usually as large and heav^^ as one of three years, born 
and bred in the Atlantic States. The ewes produce twins and 
triplets more frequently here than east of the Kocky Moun- 
tains. The health of the herds is better. No fatal disease has 
ever prevailed to any serious extent. The " scab " exists in 
many herds, but in a mild form, and few have died of it. It is 



AGRICULTURE. 273 

tlie general opinion of sheep-breeders that the sheep l:>red in 
California will produce more wool than those of other States. 
The heaviest unwashed Heece on record, is that of " Grizzly," 
a French Merino buck. It was fourteen months old, weiglied 
forty-two pounds, and was slieared by Flint, Bixby & Co., in 
Monterey County, in 1859. 

Sheep in California are never kept under shelter, and except 
a few of fine blood, seldom get any food, save such as they can 
pick up on the open hills and plains. Sometimes lambs are 
lost with cold, but this is very rare when they are well man- 
aged. At night the herds are driven into corrals or pens, to 
protect them against the coyotes, and to keep them from 
being lost. On the large sheep ranches, one herdsman is em- 
ployed for a thousand sheep. There are a few shepherd-dogs 
in the State, some brought from Australia, others from Scot- 
land. The word " corral " is understood by these dogs, and 
when they hear it, they immediately drive the herd to the 
corral. At the sight of a wolf they hastily collect the sheep 
into a dense body, with their tails out and the lambs in the 
center. If a sheep turns his head out, the dog bites his knees 
and makes him turn about. Tlie dog seems to understand that 
the wolf cannot do much harm by biting tbe rump of a sheep, 
but would soon kill it after catching its throat. 

In most other sheep countries, the sheep-breeder is at great 
disadvantages as compared with California : the land is dear ; 
it must be cultivated ; the sheep must be fed by hand every 
day during a considei-able part of the year ; the herds must be 
under shelter in the winter ; four or five men are required, on 
an average, to attend to a thousand sheep ; the herds are not 
so healthy, do not increase so rapidly, do not grow so large 
within the first two years, and do not produce so much wool. 
The land of the sheep ranches in California is not worth more 
than five dollars per acre, on an average — probably not more 
than three dollars. It follows that sheep-breeding should be 
very profitable here, and so it is. The ewes, when properly 
18 



274 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

taken care of, have lambs before they are a year old — increase 
one hundred per cent, every year. The cost of keejnng lar^^e 
herds is variously estimated at from thirty-seven to fifty cents 
per head annually, exclusive of the interest of the land used 
for pasturage. The wool of a good sheep will pay twice the 
cost of keeping it ; and the wool and lamb together, of a fine- 
blood ewe, are worth eight or ten times the cost. It is the 
present custom to sell the wethers for mutton when a year old, 
but this is bad policy, save with the poorest sheep. 

The old missions had large herds of sheep, but after the 
management of those large establishments was taken from 
the priests and given to civil officers, in 1833, the sheep were 
neglected and most of them were killed. Twenty years later 
very few were left in the State ; but there was a demand for 
mutton, so large herds were driven from New Mexico. These 
were a very poor stock, but they were for a long time the 
only sheep that could be had. The first attempt to breed 
sheep, as an exclusive business in California, since the Ameri- 
can conquest, was commenced in 1853, by a poor man who 
had nothing save nine hundred ewes; and they' increased so 
rapidly, and proved so profitable, that within ten years he had 
ten thousand sheep, sixteen thousand acres of land, and other 
property to the value of one hundred thousand dollars, and 
his wealth has greatly increased since. 

The business of wool-growing has advanced with more 
steadiness, and has paid greater average and regular profits, 
than any other agricultural occupation extensively pursued in 
the State. The increase in the production was for a long time 
fifty-five per cent, annually. In 1855 the j'ield was 300,000 
pounds, in 1860 3,200,000, in 1865 6,445,000, in 1870 19,700,- 
000, and in 1872 23,000,000. Every man who has managed a 
large sheep ranch with knowledge and prudence has become 
rich. 

The varieties most prized are the French and Spanish Mer- 
inos, but in addition to these we have some fine Southdowns, 



AGRICULTURE. 275 

Cotswokls, and Leicesters. According to the State statistical 
report of 1873, California had in that year 4,000,000 sheep, 
and as tlie yield was 30,000,000 pounds, the average 
per sheep was seven pounds to the head. The Federal Census 
report says the average yield per head was four and an eighth 
pounds. California has the finest large herds of sheep in 
the United States, and produces the most wool. The num- 
ber of sheep in the State now is probably 4,500,000. ^^ 

The increase of a well-managed herd of sheep in California 
is seldom less than 80 per cent,, or more than 110 per cent, of 
the number of ewes over two years old ; and the increase is 
about the same in all the varieties, the average being about 95 
per cent. Of the two-year-old ewes, 10 per cent, have twins ; 
of the three-year-olds, 30 per cent. ; of the four-year-olds, 35 
per cent, ; and the percentage remains the same till they get to 
be ten years old. From five to ten per cent, are barren each 
year, but absolute barrenness is very i-are. Two or three per 
cent, of the lambs are separated from their dams during the 
first two or three days, and die of neglect ; and two per cent, 
die of injuries received while being marked. 

South of Santa Clara the grasses are more nutritious and 
more abundant in favorable years than in the north, and the 
climate is more genial. In good seasons an acre should sus- 
tain a sheep. In the winter, spring, and summer, the herds 
pasture chiefly on the alfilerilla and bunch grass, preferring 
the former to everything else ; but in the fall nothing is left 
for them save burr-clover, and they take to that. The burrs 
are so rough that they sometimes cut through the gullet, or 
stomach, and thus cause the death of the sheep. They also 
get into the wool and seriously injure its value, because they 
are set round with little spines, and can only be removed by a 
gin. They are as brown as the earth, cover the southern val- * 
leys, and possesssing a rich nutriment, they enable sheep to 
fatten on land that to the inexperienced eye looks as barren 
as bare sand. These burrs are especially abundant in the wool 



276 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

from the southern coast ; that from the northern part of the 
State is much cleaner in every respect. The best northern 
wool brought to our market in any considerable quantity is 
worth 23 cents per pound ; the same quality from San Luis 
Obispo, full of burrs, is sold for 1 6 cents. A little washed wool i& 
brought from Russian River Valley, but our woolen factories 
have to wash and clean all their wool. Most of the best wool 
of the State is purchased here, and the poorer qualities are ex- 
ported. The condition of the wool is taken into account, as 
well as the blood of the sheep. 

§ 198. Neat Cattle. — The neat cattle have been decreasing 
since 1860, in which year the number was 1,100,000, whereas 
now it is 820,000, a decrease of nearly 300,000. Beef has 
been unprofitable, and the sheep and wheat together have oc- 
cupied large areas once occupied by cows. In 1853 the miners 
stigmatized the coast as " the cow counties," but the name 
is no longer applicable. The counties which have the most 
neat cattle at present are : Fresno 119,000, San Luis Obispo 
61,000, Tulare 58,000, Kern 59,000, Sonoma 45,000, Monterey 
37,000, Merced 34,000, Humboldt and Los Angeles each 27,- 
000, Contra Costa 25,000, and Colusa, San Joaquin, Sacra- 
mento, and San Diego, each 20,000. The true cow region now 
is the southern part of the San Joaquin Valley, where Fresno, 
Merced, Tulare, and Kern have together 270,000 head, or 
one-third of the entire stock of the State. 

§ 199. Sjoanish Cattle. — Many of our neat cattle are of 
the old Californian breed, brought hither by the Spanish mis- 
sionaries from Mexico, about 1770. At what time their stock 
came originally to Mexico is not precisely known, but without 
doubt it was in the seventeenth century, soon after the con- 
quest by Cortez, and tliey must have been imported from 
• Spain. They are called •' Spanish cattle." In Mexico, as sub- 
sequently in California, they were allowed to run almost wild, 
and they took something of the appearance of wild animals. 
They have nearly the same range of colors as the neat cattle 



AGRICULTURE. 277 

of Europe ; but mouse, dun, and brindle colors — almost in- 
fallible signs of " scrub " blood — are more frequent ; and the 
deep red, fine cream color, and delicate mottling of deep red 
and white, foimd only in animals of high blood, are entirely 
wanting. Their legs are long and thin, their noses sharp, 
their forms graceful, their heads high, their horns long, slen- 
der, and widespread ; and they have a duskiness about the 
eyes and nostrils similar to that of the deer, between which 
animal and a young Spanish cow there are many points of re- 
semblance. The general carriage of a Spanish cow is like that 
of a wild animal : she is quick, uneasy, restless, frequently on 
the lookout for danger, snuffing the air, moving with a high 
and elastic trot, and excited at the sight of a man, particular- 
ly if afoot, when she will often attack him. In some districts 
it is, for this reason, unsafe to go about on foot. The herdsmen 
are always mounted, and to these the cattle are accustomed ; 
but a man afoot is considered to be a dangerous animal, de- 
serving of the same treatment as wolves and coyotes. The 
Spanish cow is small, does not fatten readily, produces little 
milk, and her meat is not so tender and juicy as that of Amer- 
ican cattle. 

The breeding of neat cattle was almost the only business of 
the country previous to the American conquest, and they were 
killed for their hides and tallow, which were the chief exports. 

The meat went to enrich the land ; there was too much of 
it to be eaten. The breeding of cattle being the chief occupa- 
tion of the Californians, determined their mode of life, the 
structure of their society, and the size of their ranchos. No- 
body wanted to own less than a square league, (four thousand 
four hundred and thirty-eight acres) of land ; and the Govern- 
ment granted it away without charge, in tracts varying from 
one to eleven leagues, to anybody who would undertake to 
erect a house and put a hundred head of cattle on the place. 
It was common for one man to own five thousand head of 
cattle. The cows were kept for breeding, and the steers were 



278 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

regularly killed as they reached the age of three or four years. 
All had the freedom of the counti'y and ranged where they 
pleased, except that several times a year every man collected 
his own upon his ranch. There was about one bull to fifty 
cows. No attempt was made to improve the breed, nor was 
any profit to be made from an improvement. Most of the 
calves were born about the beginning of the year, and in 
March the first rodeo was held. 

§ 200. Rodeos. — The word rodeo comes from the same 
root with " rotate," and means a surrounding, a gathering of 
all the cattle on a ranch, and the separation and removal of 
those belonging to other ranches. There are general and spe- 
cial rodeos. A rodeo may be for one ranch or for several ; 
but every ranchero owning a large ranch and many cattle, has 
his own rodeos : at least one rodeo in the spring and another 
in the fall. The general rodeo is held for the benefit of all 
the cattle-owners in the neighborhood ; the special rodeo is 
held for the benefit of some particular person or persons who 
desire an opportunity to remove their cattle from a ranch. 
Every owner of a rancho is required by law to give a gen- 
eral rodeo every spring. 

When a general rodeo is to be held, the ranchero sends no- 
tice several days or weeks in advance to the cattle-owners in 
the vicinity ; and in the cattle-districts the neighborhood ex- 
tends forty or fifty miles, for cattle will stray tliat distance. 
On the day appointed, the ranchero having selected some 
place where the cattle are to be collected, sends out his 
mounted vaqueros, or herdsmen, at daylight to drive the cat- 
tle to the appointed place, where they are gathered at ten 
o'clock. By that time, the interested rancheros with their va- 
queros have made their appearance, and are on the ground, 
all mounted and prepared for tlie day's work. 

The ranchero who gives the rodeo is present to entertain his 
visitors, and his men are instructed to keep the cattle together. 
The herd may be very large. I have seen eight thousand head 



AGRICULTURE. 279 

of cattle in a rodeo, forming a solid body about a quarter of 
a mile in diameter in every direction. The visiting rancheros 
who have come from the greatest distance are permitted to 
enter the mass first, select their cattle, and drive them out. 
Each man has a position chosen at a distance of half a mile or 
a mile, wliither he drives his cattle ; and there are several men 
there mounted, to prevent them from returning to the main 
hei-d. When a ranchero sees one of his cows in the herd, he 
calls to a friend, and the two chase her out. She does not 
wish to go, and tries to hide herself among the other cattle. 
The horses, accustomed to the rodeo, soon recognize the cow 
that is to be parted out, and enjoy the work. They turn 
with every turn of hers, and she is soon tired and compelled 
to go out. If the cow be accompanied by a large unmarked 
calf, the latter is often caught with the lasso, thrown down, 
and then marked with the kuife. While these rancheros are 
riding about among the herd, and seeking their own, the cattle 
are driven by a few vaqueros belonging to the ranch, so as to 
move about in a circular manner. As the cattle are thus 
moving round in one direction, the rancheros of the immediate 
neighborhood, whose time has not yet come for entering the 
center of the rodeo, ride round in a direction contrary to the 
course of the herd, and thus are enabled to see them to more 
advantage than if they were standing still. After the ran- 
cheros from a distance have parted out all their cattle, those of 
the vicinity ride in, and the whole day is thus spent in racing 
and chasing after cattle. 

The man who gives the rodeo does not attempt to examine 
the cattle which are driven away. He takes it for granted 
that every one will drive ofl" only his own animals. Some- 
times several days are necessary to complete the general rodeo 
of a ranch, and the work is continued from day to day until 
finished. All the rodeos of a neighborhood are usually held 
in a regular and close connection. The rancheros from a dis- 
tance, therefore, stay until they have attended all the rodeos 



280 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

ill a district to which they suppose that any of their cattle have 
strayed ; and they are usually the guests of the man upon 
whose rancli the rodeo is given. 

When a cow is diiven out, her calf follows. Eveiy ran- 
chero knows his cattle by the brand, whicli law and custom 
require him to use. Of course, when a man has four or five 
thousand head of cattle, he cannot recognize them all by 
sight : he can only distinguish them by marks. lie knows his 
cows by their brands, and his calves by their following the 
cows. 

The spring rodeos are the busiest seasons of the raneheros, 
and are for them the chief occasions of general meeting, excit- 
ing adventure, conversation, and festivity, in the course of the 
year. Frequently three or four hundred men will meet at these 
places, mounted on their best horses, and ready fur fun. All 
the work of the rodeo is exciting. Lively scenes are enacting 
at every moment, and in every direction. Calves will try to 
get away from the herd, and escape to the hills. Cows which 
have been driven out will endeavor to get back. These must 
be chased by the hoi*semen. Frequently the lasso must be- 
used. Many of the vaqueros are fond of showing tiieir skill 
before so many spectators, and astonishing feats of horseman- 
ship ai-e performed. 

When a ranchero returns from a rodeo, with his cattle which 
had strayed f^way, he drives them into his cori*al, and brands 
and marks his calves ; so that if they should return to their 
former range, he will know them the next year. If those that 
have been on other ranches are too numerous to be branded 
and marked in one day, some of his vaqueros stay with them 
on horseback, and herd them until all can be marked. When a 
cow has become accustomed to a ranch, she likes to return to it. 
After all the calves are marked, the owner does not care much 
whither they go, provided that they do not stray beyond the 
limits of the ranches, the rodeos of which he attends. It is 
only in times of extraordinary scarcity of grass that the ranch- 



AGRICULTURE. 281 

eros are pavticulav to drive the cattle "of otlier owners off their 
lands. 

Tlie rodeo season being over — that is, when the ranchero 
lias all his cattle on his own ranch, and his alone — he com- 
mences the work of branding. His vaqueros drive about two 
hundred cows with their calves into the corral every morning, 
and two or three good vaqueros will brand these calves in a 
day. The vaqueros enter the corral with their horses, which 
they need when the calves are large and strong, for many of 
them are three and four months old. If the calf be small, the 
vaquero may be afoot to lasso him. One vaquero throws 
a reata over the calf's head, and another catches him by the 
leg ; they throw him down, and one holds him, wliile the 
other gets a hot branding-iron and burns the owner^s mark 
upon its hip. Thus the work goes on from day to day, and 
from week to week, until every calf on the ranch is marked. 

§ 201. liranch. — The law requires that every horse and 
cow sliall be branded with a brand belonging to their owner. 
The brand is made of iron, sometimes representing one or two 
letters, sometimes other arbitrary signs, such as a cross, a cir 
cle, a triangle, or any other design. The brand may be six 
inches long by four witle, and the thickness of tlie iron is 
about a third of an inch. There is an iron handle, with a 
wooden crosspiece at the end, so that the brand can be han- 
dled when hot, and held down firmly upon the prostrate calf, 
until the figure is indelibly burned into the skin. A copy of 
every brand must be burned upon leather, and deposited in 
the county recorder's office. Every minor and servant on a 
ranch must use tlie brand of the owner of the ranch. The 
brand mu^.t be burned, under penalty, upon all horses and 
neat cattle, before the age of eighteen months. The brand is 
burned upon the hip, and indicates ownership ; when the ani- 
mal is sold, the brand is burned upon the shoulder and indi- 
cates sale. Tlie purchaser then puts his brand upon the hip ; 
and thus the skin of a Californian horse or cow contains the 



282 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

history of its ownersliip. Many of the brands are well known 
to the rancheros over a large portion of the State ; and by 
looking at the animal, they will tell where it was born, and 
who have owned it at different times. The hips and slioulders 
on both sides are often covered with brands. Sometimes the 
brands grow with the animals ; in other cases they remain 
nearly of tlieir original size. A brand well burned into the 
skin is perceptible as long as the animal lives, though it grows 
less and less distinct with the advance of years. 

In the fall there is anotlier season of rodeos, to brand such 
calves as may have escaped notice at the spring rodeos, or 
may have been too small to be branded. 

The rancheros sometimes have a mark in addition to their 
brand, such as slitting the ear or cutting a notch in the dew- 
lap. A drawing of the mark must be deposited in tlie county 
recorder's office. It is contrary to law to cut otf the end of 
the car, or to cut it on both sides so as to bring it to a point ; 
for those modes of marking would give opportunities to cut 
away the marks of other people. The bull-calves are usually 
altered at the rodeos, as well as branded and marked. The 
cattle on many ranches are touched only twice in their lives 
by the hand of man — first, when they are branded ; and next, 
when they are slaughtered. 

§ 202. Early Maturity . — The cows calve almost invariably 
before they'aretwo years old, frequently before they are eight- 
een montlis, and sometimes before fourteen months. They 
generally arrive at maternity a year sooner than in the 
Atlantic States. The Spanish rancheros have eight or ten 
bulls to a hundred cows ; the Americans usually four or five. 
The calves suckle from six to ten months : tliat is, from Janu- 
ary or February, wlien they are born, until November, when 
the pasturage is very scanty. The Spanish cows have small 
udders, and yield little milk ; and notwithstanding tlieir great 
number in the country, butter, milk, and cheese were very 
rarely seen on the table previous to the coming of the Ameri- 



AGRICULTURE. 283 

cans. American cows are tlie only ones used for the dairy, 
but many of them are now kept also for breeding alone, and, 
like tlie Spanish cows, are never milked. 

§. 203. Corral and Reata. — The corral is an important 
part of all cattle-ranchos, and on many of them it is the only 
enclosure. It is a pen, from thirty to fifty yards square, sur- 
rounded by a high, strong fence. It is used whenever horses 
or cattle are to be branded. 

The reata, used for lassoing, is a rawhide rope, about five- 
eighths of an inch in diameter, and thirty yards long. It is 
made of four strips of cowhide, from which the hair has been 
scraped ; and after plaiting, it is greased and dragged along on 
the ground after a saddle to render it pliable. Kawhide is 
better than any other material, because it has just the proper 
weight and stiffness for the purpose. A running noose, which 
slips very easily, is arranged at one end. When the reata is 
to be used, the noose is made from four to six feet long ; one 
side of the noose and the reata just outside are taken in the 
right hand, so that while in the hand the noose will not slip ; 
the remainder of the reata is held coiled up in the left hand, 
ready to be let go. The vaquero swings the noose around his 
head in such a way as to keep it open ; and when he has a 
good swing he lets go, and away it will fiy its whole length. 
If it catches the object aimed at, the noose draws tight. It is 
not an uncommon thing for a vaquero to catch a cow at a dis- 
tance of thirty feet, while she and his horse are both running 
rapidly; but usually he will get within fifteen or twenty feet 
if he can, before throwing his reata. A good vaquero, stand- 
ing in front of another man, can push the latter back, and the 
moment his foot leaves the ground throw a reata under it, and 
thus lasso him by the leg. When cattle or horses are to be 
branded, they must be thrown down ; and this is generally ac- 
complished by catching the head with one reata and a hind 
leg with another. 



284 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

§ 204, Occasional Starvation. — Nineteen out of twenty of 
the cattle of California never get any food save such as !j;ro\vs 
indigenously in the open country, and they always suffer for 
it. From March to July the pastui*e is abundant and excel- 
lent, and the cattle are fat ; from July to October, in ordinary 
years, the grasses and clovers, though dry and brown, are nu- 
tritious, and the cattle still remain in good condition ; but 
from October to January they grow lean rapidly, and almost 
every year a considerable number of them die by starvation. 
Either the grass may be all consumed, or it may be de]irived 
of its nutriment. The first case happens when the grass is 
very scanty, because of the small fall of rain during the win- 
ter; the second occurs when a heavy rain, lasting a day or 
two, comes before New Year's day, and is followed by cold, 
dry weather. The rain takes away the palatable and nutri- 
tious qualities of the old grass, and the cold and dry weather 
prevents the starting of the new grass, and between the two 
the cattle suffer. In 1856, seventy thousand head of cattle 
died in Los Angeles County alone by starvation, one-third of 
the entire number in the county, which has now only 27,000 
in all. In 1863 and 1864, the loss by starvation was estimated 
at 200,000 or 300,000. Santa Barbara County had 97,000 head 
in the spring of 1863, and only 12,090 in the spring of 1865, in- 
dicating a decrease of 85,000. The numei'ous droughts affect 
the neat cattle interest more permanently than any other. The 
failure of wheat in one year does not injure the crop of the 
next, but is rather a benefit to it, since the soil has liad a rest, 
and its materials have been prepared for plant assimilation by 
exposure to the air. A severe drought prevents an increase in 
the sheep, but does not reduce their number. But the neat 
cattle receive less care, are less profitable, and find more diffi- 
culty in surviving on scanty pasturage. 

§ 205, Fine Blood. — The cattle of pure Spanish or Mexi- 
can blood in a few years will have entirely disappeared from 
the State. The American and English breeds are replacing it. 



AGRICULTURE. 285 

Tlie American cows are fine animals for milk and beef, but 
they are not uniform in blood, and are inferior in the most 
desirable qualities to the carefully bred Durhanis, Ayrshires, 
and Alderiieys, which are regarded here with more favor 
than any other of the European stocks. The wild pastures of 
the State are not fitted to keep up the character of the fine 
breeds, and after a few years the ofispring of the Durham and 
Devon bulls, left without cultivated food, are scarcely dis- 
tinguishable from the common herd of mixed American and 
Spanish blood. Tlie time is, howevej, not far distant when we 
shall have extensive pastures in the reclaimed and irrigated 
districts, and then our neat cattle will soon show a great im- 
provement. 

§ 206. Pasture. — The cultivated food given to dairy cows 
in California consists of maize cut green, pumpkins, beets, 
potatoes, bran mixed with chopped straw and hay, alfalfa, 
oats, and barley. The natural pastures near the ocean keep 
green longer than those in the interior, and they are therefore 
better adapted to dairy purposes. Fine pasture is found in 
some of the high parts of the Sierra Nevada, and many dairy- 
men who have their homes in the valleys or foot-liills, drive 
their herds up into the mountains at tlie beginning of summer, 
take their families with them, and spend their time in making 
butter until the approach of winter drives them down, when 
they bring the product of their season's work down to the 
market. 

§ 207. Butter. — The production of butter in California 
amounted in 1872 to 7,500,000 pounds, a large quantity as 
compared with that of other countries with a similar climate. 
The dairy cows are nearly all of American blood, crossed with 
Durham, Ayrshire, or Devon, and a few are of the pure 
Britisli milking breeds. In many places they get no cultivated 
food except in times of drought, when they receive enough hay 
to keep them alive ; but there is a constant improvement in 
the style of their keeping and also in the profit of the dairies. 



286 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

The chief dairy districts are Marin, Sonoma, Santa Clara, 
Monterey, San Luis Obispo, and Santa Cruz, (the counties 
west of the Diablo divide, between 35° and 39°, taking the 
lead) then Sacramento, San Joaquin, and Yolo, (the center of 
the Sacramento-San Joaquin Basin) and after these the Sierra 
Nevada. 

The most notable dairy property in the State was a few 
years since a small tract of 130,000 acres, in Marin County, 
owned by three gentlemen ; but it has since been divided into 
three equal parts, one belonging to J, M. Shafter, another to 
C. Howard, and a third to the estate of O. L. Shafter. It fronts 
thirty-five miles on the ocean, including Point Reyes, north of 
the Golden Gate, and extends inland ten miles. This estate 
was stocked with cows, which were leased in herds, with from 
five to seven acres to each cow, the lessee paying about $25 
cash .for each cow, and a cow-calf for each two cows as an- 
nual rent. The yield for each cow above expenses is estimated 
at $G0, so that the lessee has a fair chance to prosper with 
good management ; and the dairy-men of Marin, as well as 
of other parts of the State, have generally done well. No 
other agricultural occupation in California has paid so steadily, 
or given competence to so large a proportion of the men en- 
gaged in it, except wool-growing. 

§ 208. Cheese. — The annual production of cheese in Cali- 
fornia is 3,400,000 pounds, including 700,000 from Monterey, 
525,000 from Santa Clara, 470,000 from San Mateo, 380,000 
from Marin, 340,000 from San Luis Obispo, 250,000 from So- 
noma, and 230,000 from Merced. Monterey and San Luis 
Obispo, which front on the ocean for a hundred miles south of 
36° 40', and produce about one-twelfth of the butter of the 
State, supply more than one-third of the cheese ; while Marin 
and Sonoma, which occupy the Pacific shore from 38° 40' to 
39° 50', make three-sevenths of our butter, and only one-fifth 
of our cheese. The cheese dairy-men feed less cultivated food 
to their cows than do the butter men, and generally they oc- 



AGRICULTURE. 287 

cupy places less accessible to the market. Partly on account 
of the lack of cultivated food, and the large areas necessary 
to support one cow — usually from five to ten acres, (whereas 
with cultivation, two acres would be sufficient) we have only 
two cheese factories to work up the milk of a number of dif- 
ferent farmers, though many of the cheese houses designed to 
do the work of separate dairies are equal in size to large fac- 
tories in New York. 

§ 209. Morses. — California has 237,000 horses, of which 
perhaps a fourth are of pure Spanish blood, while the remain- 
der are mostly mixed American and Spanish blood. The 
Spanish horses are of the old imported stock, sent early in the 
sixteenth century from Spain to Mexico, and thence brought to 
California about eighty years ago. Like the neat cattle, the 
Spanish horses run wild, and partake to some extent of the wild 
nature. They show their base blood by their colors — mouse 
color, dull duns of various shades, and calico color, or mixtures 
of white with red or black, in numerous large spots or blotches, 
are common ; while chestnut, bright sorrel, blood bay, and dap- 
pled gray, arc very rare among them. They are quick, tough, 
» healthy, and unsurpassable for the uses of the rider, and the 
vaquero ; but small, lacking in weight, strength, and beauty, 
and unfitted for tlie heavy, steady work of the plough, cart, or 
wagon. They are wanting in the docility, kindly dis])osition, 
and steadiness of the well-bred horse ; and they have little of 
that kind of sense which leads an American horse to be quiet 
and gentle, even in circumstances strange to him. For Cali- 
fornia as it was in 1845, there were no better horses than the 
Spanish-Mexican. They have a wonderful toughness, and 
some of their exploits in the way of traveling are unsurpassed 
in the annals of the turf. A number of instances are on rec- 
ord where Californian horses have carried a rider one hun- 
dred miles in a day, and that with no food save grass. Sixty 
miles a day is not an uncommon ride, nor is it considei-ed a se- 
vere one. Fremont, on one occasion, rode four hundred miles 



288 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

in four days, riding different horses, but driving them before 
him from the beginning to the end of the journey. 

Many of the brood-mares in the southern part of the State 
are wikl Spanish ; that is, they live entirely in the open plain, 
are unbroken, and many of them have never been touched, save 
when they were to be branded. They are in bands called 
7na7iadas, numbering from thirty to sixty mares, which are 
under the guidance of one stallion or garanon. He knows 
every one of his band, keeps them together, conducts them to 
what he considers the best pastures, and drives away geldings, 
stallions, mules, and whatever animals he may dislike. When 
a vaquero tries to drive the manada into a corral for the pur- 
pose of catching some of the band, the garanon will frequently 
divide them and scatter them about, and render it impossible 
for the vaquero to get them together ; for while he drives in one 
place, the stallion is equally busy at another, and the mares 
fear his teeth and heels as much as the swinging reata of the 
horseman. The garanon is usually from live to nine years of 
age. He guards his manada with the most jealous care. It 
sometimes happens that one garafion tries to take away a mare 
from the band of another, and then a fight ensues, in which 
the weaker has to suffer a severe biting and kicking, and then 
lose the object of the battle, too. The mananda keeps together 
for year after year, but when it gets too large, the vaquero 
will divide it and give a portion to the charge of another 
garanon. All the mares foal before they are three years old, 
whereas in the Atlantic States they seldom foal until a year 
later. They also breed more regularly than elsewhere, for 
when mares are kept in stables, they frequently pass seasons 
without having colts. The foals are branded at the age of 
three or four months, and are weaned at the age of eight or 
ten months. The fillies continue to run with the manada, and 
become part of it. The colts continue to run with the 
manada until they are three or four years of age, when they 
are broken and })ut into the caballada, or herd of broken 



AGRICULTURE, 289 

horses. The Mexicans never broke their mares, and con- 
sidei-ed it discreditable and a mai-k of great poverty to ride 
one. 

The American horses, that is the common stock of liorses 
brought from the Atlantic States, and their oflspriug, are 
large, fine animals, not so healthy and tough as the Califor- 
uian horses, but lai'ger, more active, stronger, and more hand- 
some in sliape and color. 

Many stallions and mares of fine blood have been imported, 
including thoroughbreds or English racers, Morgans, and vari- 
ous other American trotters, and Clydesdale and other heavy 
cart and truck horses. Some of these horses are valued as 
high as twenty thousand dollars each. The trotters are in 
greater demand, and bring higher prices than the thorough- 
breds, and much more than the working horses ; but the last 
are the animals of direct industrial value. The Clydesdale, 
crossed with the American and Spanish stocks, supplies many 
of our best horses for heavy draught. The pure Clydesdale 
weighs about 2,000 j^ounds ; the tln-ee-quarter blood, (one 
quarter Spanish) at four years old, weighs about 1,500 pounds, 
and is worth $300 ; the half-blood weighs 1,300 pounds, and is 
worth $250 ; and the pure Spanish weighs 800 and sells for 
$50. The cross of the Clydesdale wath the American, gives a 
larger and move valuable animal. Many of the Clydesdale 
grades (as animals of mixed blood are called) are worth from 
$400 to $800, 

§ 210. Mules. — Nearly all the farm work of California, 
where draught animals are necessary, is done with horses. 
Mules are too dear and oxen are too slow. Many mules and 
liorses are used in packing merchandise in those districts Avhere 
there are no good wagon-roads. For the ordinary uses of the 
farm the mule is preferable to the horse, being longer-lived, 
more healthy, not so much injured physically or morally by 
ill-treatment, and able to thrive on cheaper and simpler food. 
But the mule is not considered handsome, and the small farmer 
19 



290 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

wants a horse which he can ride, and witli wliich he can take 
his family out. The State has 27,000 mules, and perhaps a 
dozen jacks of fine blood. 

§ 211. Sioine. — Swine are not in favor with the farmers of 
California, as may be inferred from the fact that the State 
had 600,000 of them in 1860, and has only 400,000 now. 
They increase rapidly, and their meat commands a high price, 
but they do not thrive upon the dry pastures ; they are not 
permitted to run at large in many counties ; the mast is scanty 
in the agricultural counties, and grain suitable for feed is dear. 
It is probable that after extensive districts are brought under 
the influence of irrigation, so that maize and succulent roots 
can be cultivated with more profit than at present, swine will 
come into more favor. 

§ 2 1 2. Angora Goats. — The importation of Angora or Cash- 
mere goats was commenced in 1858, and several hundred ani- 
mals, represented to be of pure blood, have been brought to 
the State since ; but, notwithstanding the most brilliant 
promises, they have as yet paid a profit to nobody save those 
who sold the bucks. A gentleman engaged in that business, 
and claiming to understand the value and market of Angora 
wool, published an article several years ago, stating that a herd 
of 768 nanny goats of common blood, supplied with Angora 
bucks, would in five years have increased to 8,364, most of 
them as good for wool as the pure Angora. The sales of 
wethers for mutton in the five years, at $4 per head, would 
amount to $5,000; and the sales of wool, beginning after two 
years, when there would be a considerable stock of goats of 
seven-eighths blood, would be $384 the first year, $1,728 the 
second, $4,896 the third, and from that time on would con- 
tinue to increase at the rate of about fifty per cent, annually, 
if the wool were to bring $1 per pound. 

After fifteen years of trial, California has discovered 
that there was something wrong about these promises. In- 
stead of having a million Angora goats of nearly pure blood, 



AGRICULTURE. 291 

and of exporting several million pounds of the wool, we have 
not exported so mucli as the imported animals should have pro- 
duced : we have only about tljree hundred animals that deserve 
to be called Angora goats. There are 18,000 grade goats 
crossed with the cotnmon stock ; but so far as experience has 
as yet determined, they are worthless for wool. Whether the 
Angora goats can be bred with a profit in California, is still 
a problem. They will live and multiply in some places where 
sheep will not. Tluis, in the Sierra Nevada there is a strip 
twenty miles wide between 500 and 5,000 feet above tlic sea, 
where, on account of the abundance of brush, sheep will not 
thrive. The Cashmere goats prefer browsing to grazing, and 
they eat the foliage of all the bushes except the poison oak, 
standing upon their hind feet to reach as far as possible on the 
chaparral and manzanita. The goats keep togethei- and come 
home at night; and it is said that one man can herd 2.000 
of them with less trouble than two men can herd 2,000 sheep. 
They have no disease except that a few have been poisoned — 
it is supposed by eating dry buckeyes. 

§ 213. Poultry. — Poultry command very high prices in this 
State, but all attempts to breed them on a large scale have 
proved unproiitable. Hens are worth from fifty to seventy- 
five cents each, and eggs from twenty-five to fifty cents per 
dozen. Chickens are healthy and increase rapidly in small 
poultry -yards oi; farms ; but when more than five hundred are 
collected a fatal epidemic appears, and they die off. The dis- 
ease seems to be a kind of apoplexy, for it attacks the fattest 
chickens, and they die suddenly. Several large henneries have 
been established, but all have failed ; that is, so far as their 
purpose was the production of eggs and chickens for the table 
with a profit. 

§ 214. Bees. — It was supposed, before 1853, that the honey- 
bee would not thrive in a climate so dry as that of California ; 
but some hives brought to the State in that year, proved the 
error of the supposition. A good hive will increase in num. 



292 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

ber, and store lioney, twice as rapidlj' as in New York. Bees 
here are not idle dming six months of the year as tliere, but 
busy during nine or ten months. They find their food in wild 
and cultivated liowei*s, in the blossoms of manzanita bushes, 
fruit-trees, grasses, clovers, and grains, in grapes, fruits, and 
honey-dew. Tliey seem to thrive in the dryest portions 
of the State, Avhere there are no cultivated fields and no 
flowers or green herbage. They are very fond of apiicots, 
which they eat in places where the skin has been previously 
cut through by bugs. Wlien the latter have made a hole, 
the bees come and eat side by side with the bugs, which are 
of the " lady-bug" kind, and other similar species. Many of 
tlie bees lose their lives in consequence of tlieir fondness for 
the apricot. Either they eat too much, or they eat the meat 
after it has passed into the alcoholic fermentation ; but wheth- 
er intoxicated or surfeited, they are unable to get home, and 
they perish during the night. In places where the lioney-dew 
is abundant, especially in the mountains on the eastern border 
of the Tulare Valley, the bees make honey veiy rapidly. In- 
deed, it has been the custom of several bee-keepers in Califor- 
nia to move their bees about from place to place, according 
to the pasture and the season. Many swanns have gone ofi" 
into tlie mountains, where they occupy holes in trees and clefts 
in rocks. The mountain honey resembles in taste that of the 
Eastern States and Nortliern Europe, Avhile tli.at made in the 
Coast Valleys has a peculiar flavor, which, it is said, is much 
like the honey of Mount Hymettus, where the bees have ac- 
cess to a great variety of wild flowers. 

The State has 30,000 bee-hives, including 3,000 each iuMon- 
terey and Los Angeles Counties, 2,000 in San Diego, 1 ,500 in 
Sacramento, and 1,000 each in San Joaquin, Santa Clara, and 
Siskiyou. The hives are increasing in number more rapidly in 
Los Angeles and San Diego than in any other district. It is 
not rare for a hive to make two hundred pounds of honey in 
a season. The bees are exposed to constant danger from the 



AGRICULTURE. 293 

bee-moth, and also from tlie bee-bird and lizard. The last 
two eat the bees while they are on the flowers ; but the chief 
enemy is the moth, which gets into the hives and soon ruins 
them, if not discovered and ejected. On account of its dep- 
redations, the hives are usually unprofitable in the hands of 
persons wlio do not understand the business. 

Many swarms of bees liave gone off and made homes for 
themselves in hollow trees and clefts of rocks ; and in several 
of the soutliern counties these wild swarms are so numerous 
that some persons find it profitable to hunt for them, and take 
their honey, and transfer the bees to their hives. The Los 
Angeles Netos thus describes the bee-hunter's plan : 

'' Proceeding out of the range of the pasturage of his own 
bees, he places a piece of burning wax on the ground, and 
adjacent to it he deposits a little honey. If there are any 
bees in the vicinity, the burning wax attracts tliem to the 
spot, and they soon alight ui)on the honey. The luinter 
watches the bee mitil it obtains its fill, wlien it at once takes 
flight for its hive. Sometimes he waits the return of the bee, 
which never fails so to do, accompanied by several of its con- 
federates'. Some of these the hunter captures, and places in a 
box. He then proceeds in the direction taken by the first bee. 
Having gone far enough, according to his judgment, he liber- 
ates one of the bees held captive, which flies onward in case 
the hive is not already past ; if otherwise, the bee returns, and 
the hunter has to retrace his steps. Whenever he deems it 
necessary, the process of wax-burning is repeated. By these 
means it seldom takes many hours for the hunter to find the 
cave, rob it of comb, lioney, and swarm, and carry all tri- 
umphantly to his own apiary." 

In tlie San Fernando Mountain, an immense swarm, or a 
cluster of swarms, lias established itself in a cleft of rock, and 
has collected a stock of honey estimated to weigh sixty 
tons. 



294 KESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

§ 215, Sericulture. — Sericulture will probably become an 
important branch of Californian agriculture. China, Jai)an, 
France, and Italy, which are now the chief producers of raw 
silk, have thunder-storms and rains in summer, both very in- 
jurious to the young worm. Besides, our winters are not so 
cold, nor are our summers near the coast so hot, as at Lyons 
and Milan, the centers of the chief silk districts of Europe. 
The great drawback of that continent is, however, the bom- 
byx i)lague, which attacks nearly all the worms hatclied from 
eggs laid there ; and for the last ten years the French and Ital- 
ian silk-growers have been compelled to import eggs from re- 
mote countries, getting a large part of their supply from 
Japan, and of late years expending as much as 88,000,000 
annually in these purchases. It is believed that California can 
furnish all the eggs needed by Europe at greater profit than 
any other country, and that in a few years she will be able to 
work up her own raw silk. 

Silk worms have been bred here every year since 1860, but 
the business has not yet reached a steady and solid basis. 
Previous to 1867 it was experimental, but in that year an ex- 
citement was caused by a State premium, ottering large money 
prizes for every plantation of mulberry ti-ees, and for every 
large lot of cocoons, in proportion to their number. No re- 
striction was made in the matter of quality, and some persons 
imagined tliat they could plant their trees as thick as in a 
nursery, that they could get as much premium for the poorest 
trivoltene cocoons after they had been hatched out, as for the 
best French animals prepared for reeling. Under this stimu- 
lus, the State produced 1,000,000 cocoons in 1868, 3,000,000 in 
1869, and 12,000,000 in 1870, when the premium fever came 
to an end. and the bubble burst. It was found that many of 
the so-called mulberry plantations were mere nursei'ies, and 
were besides planted in wet places, where the worms could 
never thrive. As a consequence, a large proportion of them 



AGRICULTURE. 295 

died ; and many of the jjlantations have been dug up, and the 
cocooneries have been used for other purposes. There are now 
cocooneries at Sonoma, Maytield, Crystal Springs, Nevada, 
Santa Clara, Santa Barbara, and Los Angeles; and about 
2,000,000 cocoons have been made in 1873. 



296 RESOURCES OP CALIFORNIA. 



CHAPTER IX. 

MINING. 

§ 216. Minim/ Products. — Mining was until about I860 
the cliief industry of the State, but it lias now been surpassed 
by both agriculture and manufactui'^s. The annual products 
of mining in California may be thus stated : Gold $20,000,- 
000, lead $300,000, silver $1,000,000, quicksilver $3,000,000, 
coal $800,000, borax $100,000, asphaltum $50,000, petroleum 
$10,000, sulphur $50,000, and cop^x^r $100,000. The pro- 
duction of petroleum and borax is just commencing, and the 
yield of sulphur and copper is very irregular. The total is 
$25,400,000. 

§ 217. Number of Gold Miners. — We have no official 
statistics of the number of gold minei-s in California, so we 
must ascertain the number by calculation from various sources. 

The number of votes cast in 1872, and the number of 
Chinamen in the gold mining counties in 1870, were the fol- 
lowing : 

Counties. Votes. Chiuamen. 

Amador i>76o 1,619 

Butte I>2i9 2,070 

Calaveras i>659 i,43i 

Del Norte 238 216 

El Dorado 2,402 1,551 

Kern 459 142 

Klamath 205 542 

Mariposa 763 i >07 1 



MINING. 297 

Counties. Votes. Chinamen. 

Mono 138 41 

Nevada 3.472 2,617 

Placer 2,255 2,401 

Plumas 792 908 

San Bernardino 509 ^^ 

San Diego §73 7i 

Shasta 821 574 

Sierra 1,300 809 

Siskiyou i,372 1,439 

Stanislaus 1,130 305 

Trinity 652 1,095 

Tuolumne 1,536 i,5" 

Yuba 2,015 2,324 

Total 25,567 22,760 

The number of votes cast at the last Presidential election 
is probably within one-tenth of the total adult white males ; 
so that, if we allow 28,000 for the wliite men, we shall 
have, with . the Chinamen, about 50,000 men in these 
counties. It will be observed that we have excluded 
Los Angeles and Merced, which have a few gold mines, and 
Inyo and Alpine, which Avork no mines save those of silver. 
We have included San Bernardino and San Diego, in which 
mining is one of the chief industries, and Stanislaus and Yuba, 
in which, though the placers now yield little, they were once 
important. 

Of the 50,000 men in the auriferous districts of California, 
there are not 30,000 now engaged in gold raining. Some of 
those counties which, fifteen years ago, were exclusively de- 
voted to gold mining, are now predominantly agricultural. In 
Siskiyou, Tuolumjie4_^hasta, and Plumas, one white man out 
of two may work in a mine ; in El Dorado, Placer, and Cal- 
averas, one in three ; in Kern,f5an Diego, and San Bernardino, 
one in four ; in Yuba, Butte, and Stanislaus, one in five. If 
we allow that 18,000, or four-fifths of the Chinamen, and 
12,000, or nearly half of the white men, are miners — and these 



298 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

are very liberal estimates — we shall have a total of 30,000 
gold miners. Miners may average 250 days of work in a 
year, and the 30,000 multiplied by that figure would give 
7,500,000 days' work in a year, or $266 per day on an average. 
That sum is not discreditably small. 

§ 218. Profit of Gold Mining. — The statement has been 
made that the gold produced in California cost moi-e than it 
was worth. That gold mining was profitable to the miners, is 
shown by tlie fact that the business has been maintained now 
for nearly twenty-five years ; and those who were engaged iu 
it, as a class, have abundant reason to be pleased with their 
experience. Mining has certainly not been a source of loss to 
the State, which would have been little better tlian a desert to 
this day, if the auriferous deposits of the Sierra Nevada had 
not been discovered. It was the gold yield that tilled our 
valleys with people, planted our orchards and vineyards, built 
our cities, the Panama Railroad, our transcontinental railroad, 
and our Coast railroad system ; that establish«ed the mail 
steamer line to China ; that opened Japan to civilization and 
trade, and that tilled the North Pacific with commerce. 
Without the help of this magician, San Francisco Bay would 
probably have been of no more importance in the business of 
the United States, than Puget Sound is now. 

The American Union, as a whole, has been greatly bene- 
fitted by the mines, which, though they drew away a large 
number of the most intelligent and active men from the At- 
lantic slope, yet gave a Avonderful stimulus to all branches of 
industry, called out energies that would otherwise have been 
dormant, attracted hundreds of thousands of immigrants, gave 
the nation increased influence in the world, and poured into 
her lap more riches than had ever before been derived from 
one source within so short a time from its start, and by so few 
laborers. The addition of $1,000,000,000 in gold to the 
wealth of our nation witliin less than a quarter of a century, 
by 50,000 miners, contributed much to raise America to the 



MINING. 299 

position which she now holds in the industry and commerce of 
the woi'ld. Other nations did not pi'otit so much, and some of 
them no doubt lost, for they were compelled to give ten days' 
work in their products for the gold obtained here in one day's 
work. 

§ 219. Gold Yield. — The gold mines of the Sierra Nevada 
were discovered on the 19tli of January, 1849 ; were first 
worked in May of that year ; immediately began to be very 
productive in proportion to the men employed ; and five years 
later reached their greatest yield, which was about $65,000,- 
000 in 1853 ; and since, have been turning out less and less 
every year, exce^jting such ii-regularities as may arise from 
unequal seasons. The statistics of the annual exportation of 
treasure as manifested at the San Francisco Custom House, 
and given in the chapter on commerce, omit much that belong 
to the gold yield of California, and contain much that does 
not belong to it. From 1852 to 1860 large sums were carried 
away in dust by miners returning to the Eastern States, with- 
out report to the Custom House ; and since 1860 large quanti- 
ties of treasure from Idaho and Nevada have been made part 
of the exports from San Francisco. It is safe to estimate the 
total gold product of California in the twenty-five years, 
from the 1st of July, 1848, to the 30th of June, 1873, at 
$1,000,000,000. 

§ 220. Gold Mines. — Our gold mines are divided into 
placer and quartz. In the former, the metal is found imbedded 
in layers of earthy matter, such as clay, sand, and gravel ; in 
the latter, it is encased in veins of rock. The methods of min- 
ing must be adapted to the size of the particles of gold, and 
the nature of the material in wliich tliey are found. In placer 
mining, tlie earthy matter containing the gold, called " pay- 
dirt," is washed in water, which dissolves the clay and carries 
it oti:' in solution, and the current sweeps away the sand, gravel, 
and stones ; while the gold, by reason of its higher specific 
gravity, remains in the channel, or is caught with quicksilver. 



300 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

In quartz raining, the auriferous rock is ground to a very tine 
powder, tlie gold in wlncli is cauglit in quicksilver, or on the 
rough surface of a blanket, over which the tine material is 
borne by a stream of water. About two-thirds of our gold 
is obtained from the placers, and one-third from the quartz. 

A mine is defined in our dictionaries to be " a subterraneous 
work or excavation for obtaining metals, metallic ores, or min- 
eral substances "; but this definition does not apply to our placer 
mines, which are places where gold is taken from alluvial de- 
posits. Most of the work is not subterraneous ; it is done in 
the full light of day. In some of tlie claims the pay-dirt lies 
within two feet of the surface ; in others it lies much deeper, 
but all the superincumbent matter is usually swept away. 

§ 221. Placers. — Placer mines are divided into many clas- 
sifications. The first and most important is into deep and 
shallow. In the former the pay-dirt is found deep, twenty 
feet or more beneath the surface ; in the latter near tlie surface. 
The shallow or sui'face diggings are chiefiy found in the beds 
of ravines or gullies, in the bars of rivers, and in shallow fiats. 
The pay-dirt is usually covered by layers of barren dirt, which 
is sometimes Avashed, and sometimes left undi^^turbed, while 
the pay-dirt is taken out from underneath it by tunnels or 
shafts. So far as our present information goes, we have rea- 
son to believe that no gold country ever possessed so large an 
extent of paying placer mines, with the pay-dirt so near the 
surface, and with so many facilities for working them, as Cali- 
fornia. In Australia, the diggings are very deep and spotted, 
that is, the gold is unevenly distributed, and the supply of 
water for mining is scanty. In Siberia, the winter is terribly 
cold during six months of the year. In Brazil, the diggings 
were not so extensive nor so rich as in this State. Here we 
have numerous large streams coming down through the min- 
ing districts, very large bodies of pay-dirt, and a mild climate. 

After dividing placers into deep and shallow, the next clas- 
sification will be according to their topographical position, as 



MINING. 301 

into liill, flat, bench, bar, river-bed, ancient river-bed, and 
gulch mines. Hill diggings are those where the pay-dirt is in 
or under a hill. Flat diggings are in a flat. Bench diggings 
are in a " bench," or narrow table on the side of a hill above 
a river. Benches of tliis kind are not uncommon in Califor- 
nia, and they often indicate tlie place where the stream ran 
in some very remote age. Bars are low collections of sand 
and gravel at the side of a river, and above its surface at low 
water. River-bed claims are those beneath the surface of the 
river at low water, and access is obtained to them only by re- 
moving the water from the beds by flumes or ditches. An- 
cient river-bed claims are those in which the gold was de- 
posited by streams, in places where no streams now exist. 
Gulch claims are those in gullies which liave no water save 
during a small part of the year. A "claim" is the mining 
land owned or held by one man or a company. 

The placer mines are again classified according to the in- 
struments with which they are wrought. There are sluice 
claims, hydraulic claims, tunnel claims, dry washing, dry dig- 
ging, and knife claims. In 1849 and 1850, the main classifi- 
cation of the placers was into wet diggings and dry diggings ; 
the former meaning mines in tlie bars and beds of rivers, and 
dry diggings were tliose in gullies and flats, where water could 
be obtained only part of the year, or not at all. Tiiat classifi- 
cation was made while nearly all the mining was done near 
the surface, before the great deposits of pay dirt in the hills 
had been discovered, and before ditches, sluices, and the hy- 
draulic process liad been introduced. The " dry diggings," 
which for several years furnished nearly half of the gold 
yield of the State, are now, with a few unimportant excep- 
tions, exhausted, or left to the attention of the Chinamen. 

The purpose of all placer miners is not to catch all the gold 
in the dirt which they wasli, but to catch the greatest possible 
quantity within a given time. It is not supposed that any 
process used in gold mining catches all the metal. Part of it is 



302 RESOURCES OP CALIFORNIA. 

lost ; in some processess a considerable proportion. Tlie general 
estimate in California is, that one-twentieth of tlie gold in the 
dirt which is waslied is lost. Many of the particles are so 
very small as to be invisible to the naked eye, and so light 
that their specific gravity does not avail to prevent tliem from 
being carried away, by tlie water, like sand. The larger pieces 
will sink to the bottom and resist the force of the water ; the 
smaller the particles, the greater tlie danger that they will be 
borne away. Many devices have been tried to catch all the 
gold, but none have succeeded perfectly ; and some which liave 
caught a portion of what escaped from the ordinary modes of 
mining, have been found to cost more than their jield. The 
miner does not grieve about that which he cannot catch. He 
is not careful to catch all that he could. His purpose is to 
draw the largest possible revenue j^er day from his claim. He 
does not intend to spend many years in mining, or if he does, 
he has become thriftless and improvident. In either case, he 
wishes to derive the utmost immediate jDrolit from his mine. 
If liis claim contain a dollar to the ton, and he can save five 
dollars by slowly washing only six tons in a day, while he 
might make ten dollars by rapidly washing fifteen tons in a 
day, he will prefer the latter result, though he will lose twice 
as much of the precious metal by the fast as by the slow mode 
of working. The object of the miner is the practical dispatch 
of work, and his success will depend to a great extent upon 
the amount of dii't which he can wash within a given space of 
time. He regrets that any of the gold should be wasted, be- 
cause it escapes from his sluice and his pocket, not because it 
is lost to industry and commerce. 

§ 222, Ditches. — Water is the great agent of the placer 
miner, and the element of his power. Its amount is the 
measure of his work, and its cost the measure of his profit. 
With an abundance of water he can wash every thing ; with- 
out water he can do little or nothing. Placer raining is almost 
entirely mechanical, and of such a kind that no accuracy of 



MINING. 303 

•workmanship or scientific or literary education is necessary to 
mastery in it. Nearly all the water used by miners is sup- 
plied by ditches, which therefore occupy an important place in 
the mining of California. Indeed, it may be said that without 
them the mines of the State would be relatively insignificant. 
At least four-fifths of the gold is obtained with the assistance, 
direct or indirect, of ditch water. There are very few springs in 
the mining regions, the bed rock being usually slate with per- 
pendicular cleavage, through which the water soaks down to 
the lowest levels. The permanent streams are found only at 
long intervals, and run in deep, steep, and narrow channels. 
Nature has furnished no adequate supjily of water near the 
surface for towns or for quartz mills ; so they, as well as the 
hydraulic pipes and sluices, must depend upon ditch water, 
which thus is an indispensable requisite to the production of 
four- fifths, perhaps nineteen-twentieth s, of the gold. It is for- 
tunate that the mountain ridge east of the mining districts rises 
high into the region of snow, where the moisture that falls 
from the atmosphere in winter is condensed and retained until 
summer and fall. But without the ditches, this moisture would 
do little good to the miners, since there are few camps near 
springs or on the immediate banks of constant streams. 

§ 223. Flumes. — Flumes are usually made with boards, an 
inch and a half thick for the bottom, and an inch and a 
quarter thick for the sides. At intervals of two and a half 
feet there is a support fur the fiurae box, consisting of a sill, 
posts, and cap. The sills are four inches square ; the posts 
three by four inches, and the caps one and a half by four 
inches. To erect a fiume 25 feet high, costs about twice as 
much as to lay one on the level of tlie ground, and at 60 feet 
it costs about four times as much. The annual repair of a 
flume is about one-eiglith of its original cost, in favorable cir- 
cumstances. If the flume is left dry several mouths, the 
repairs may be more, for the sun warps and splits the boards, 
and draws the nails. A flume box, 40 inches wide by 20 



304 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

inches deep, witli a grade of 13 feet to the mile, Avill carry 
about 800 inches, and such a flume built on tlie surface of tlie 
ground will cost now at the rate of $4,000 per mile, near a 
saw-mill. The boards are put in the flume rough, but are 
always battened, and sometimes caulked. The cheapest flume 
costs twice as much as the cheapest ditch of the same capacity, 
and the rcjiairs of a flume cost 90 per cent, more than tliose of 
a ditch. Tlie duration of a high flume is on an average 
about six years, and of a low one, eight or ten. For the flrst 
two or three years after the construction of a ditch, there is 
much trouble fi'oin gopher holes and slides. 

The flumes in the highest portions of the Sierra, and 
especially about Ilowland Flat and La Porte, are troubled by 
the snow, and much labor is spent on them every winter. 
The weight of the snow is so great that after every snow- 
storm, or while it is in progress, a man must go along and 
clear the flume with a shovel. In cases where the flume is on 
a hill-side, it is necessary to shovel away the snow from the 
upper side of tlie flume, for the mass moves down hill with 
tremendous weight, thofigh with very slow motion, and no 
flume could resist it. 

§ 224. Iron Pipe. — The use of iron pipe in the form of 
an inverted sii)h<)n, instead of a high flume, for the purpose of 
carrying water across ravines, has been a great improvement 
and saving in the ditch business. Near Placerville, water is 
carried across a depression 190 feet deep and 1,600 feet long, 
in a pipe tliat cost $900, whereas a flume would have cost 
$25,000. Not only is it cheaper, but it can be used where 
flumingis pecuniarily impossible, as in crossing ravines 400 feet 
deep. 

The sheet iron used in making pipe, comes in sheets two 
feet wide and six feet long. The common sizes of pipe are 7 
and 11 inches in diameter, made in joints two feet long. A 
sheet makes .two joints of 11 -inch pipe, and thi-ee of seven- 
inch, and 11 joints are riveted together to make a section 20^ 



MINING. 305 

feet long. At the end of each section, as pipes are usually 
made, there is an ear or hook riveted on each side, and when 
the foot of one section is thrust into the head of anotiier, a 
wire is wrapped round tlie opposite ears or liooks to tie the 
sections together. In case a pipe is laid on a hill-side running 
down, each section is tied at the head to a post, to keep it 
in place ; and tlie post may be supported by a board, placed 
edgewise and crosswise in the ground. About an inch and a 
half of space is allowed for the lap at the end of the sections. 
The ends need to be made with precision, so that they will be 
water-tiglit, without packing. The pipe should be put together 
in a straight line, and the sections should be driven together 
with a sledge hammer, striking a board laid across the end of 
the section. The pipe needs to be coated with tar to preserve 
it, and if very large it may be coated inside as well as out. 

The cost of 11-inch pipe made of No. 20 iron is about 75 
cents per foot. The thickness of the iron depends upon the 
amount of pressure and the size of the pipe. The larger the 
pipe, the thicker the iron should be. The pressure at 190 feet 
is 88 pounds per square inch, and No. 20 iron is strong enough 
for that, if the pi]:)e be not more than 11 inches in diameter. 

§ 225. Expeyisive Constntction. — The first experiments in 
ditching in 1850 were magnificently successful. The canals 
were short and small, and the water was either sold at a very 
high price, or was used in working out rich claims. It was 
not uncommon for several years for little ditches to repay the 
cost of construction in a couple of months. It was supposed 
that the right to the water of a good stream would be worth 
a fortune. The merchants in each town considered it their 
interest to encourage and assist the miners to bring in water, 
so as to increase the poinilation, gold production, and trade. 
The country was full of enterprise and money, for which there 
was not much other use. Numerous ditch companies were 
formed, to bring water from the elevated regions in the moun- 
tains, and many had invested too much to withdraw before 
20 



306 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

any of tliem had learned the business before them by exper- 
ience. The work was done when labor was very high ; the 
price for common laborers being $8 per day, and lumber was 
$100 per thousand feet. Before the canals were finished, 
wages had fallen 50 per cent, or more, and the work done was 
worth in the market only half its cost. Besides, in 1851 and 
1852 tlie common price for water was 50 cents or $\ an inch, 
and the ditch companies made their calculations upon charging 
those figures; but before the completion of the ditches the best 
claims in the ravines had been exhausted, and there was not 
enough rich ground left to pay high pi-ices for all the water. 
Flumes which do not last more than ten, and sometimes become 
worthless in six years, were used to cross deep chasms where 
iron i^ipe would have been much better and cheaper. Some of 
these structures were wonderful works. The Golden Rock 
flume near Big Oak Flat was 256 feet high, and supported by 
an immense trestle-work ; and after it was blown down, a 
durable iron pipe at less than a quarter of the cost sui)plied 
its place equally well. On account of the bad engineering 
and the inexperience of the early ditch builders, the exhaus- 
tion of the placers, and other causes, the mining ditches which 
cost not less than $20,000,000 are now worth probably not 
more than $2,000,000. The total number of mining ditches 
in 1871, according to the State Surveyor General's report, was 
516, and their aggregate length 4,800 miles, and tlieir daily 
supply of water 171,000 inches. 

§ 226. 3Ieasurement of Water. — Water is sold by the inch, 
and usually an inch is the amount which escapes through an 
oritice an inch square, with the water six inches deep above 
the top of the orifice. That is called a six-inch head or 
pressure. If a large quantity is sold, the oritice may be two 
or three inches high. The mode of measurement, however, is 
not uniform. In some places the pressure is nine or ten inches ; 
in others there is no pressure, but the quantity that escapes 
through an orifice an inch wide, and three inches high, with- 
out pressure, is called an inch. 



MINING. 307 

In calculations made by machinists it is often necessary to 
use the term " an inch of Avater," and by common consent 
that phrase is accepted now to mean a supply of two and one- 
third cubic feet of water passing a given point in a minute of 
time, equivalent to 21,000 gallons in 24 houi's. The mining 
ditches of the State carry 171,000 inches in the aggregate, but 
much of this is used for only ten hours a day, and we may 
consider it equal to 100,000 inches running 24 hours, or 2,000,- 
000,000 gallons a day, more than all the great city aqueducts 
of Europe sup])ly. Single hydraulic claims use 3,000 inches 
each, or 60,000,000 gallons daily ; or more than New York 
City with nearly a million inhabitants gets from Croton 
aqueduct. The price of water, as sold by the mining ditch 
companies, varies from five to twenty cents per inch for ten 
hours, the average being about ten cents. 

§ 227. deeming up. — The separation of the gold, amalgam, 
and quicksilver, from the dirt in the bottom of the sluice, is 
called " cleaning up " ; and the period between one "clean- 
ing up " and another is called a " run." A run in a common 
board-sluice usually lasts from six to ten days ; in a large hy- 
draulic claim, one month. Ordinarily the sluice runs only 
during daylight, but in hydraulic claims tlie work continues 
night and day. Cleaning up occupies from half a day to three 
days, and therefore must not be repeated very often, because 
it consumes much time. In some sluices the cleaning up 
does not occur until the bed of the sluice has been worn 
out or much bruised by the wear of the stones and gravel. 
Cleaning up in small sluices is considered light and pleasant 
work, and is often reserved for Sunday. At the time fixed 
the throwing in of dirt ceases, the water runs until it becomes 
clear, the false bottom of the sluice is taken up in sections, 
and the heavy sand, amalgam, and quicksilver, taken up in 
pans. After separating the sand, the quicksilver and amalgam 
from tlie sluice are put into a buckskin clotli, and pressed, so 
that the liquid metal passes through, and the amalgam is re- 



308 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

tainetl. The amalgam is then heated, to drive off the mercury. 
Tliis may be done either in an open pan or in a close retort. In 
the fonner, the quicksilver is lost ; in the latter, it is saved- 
The pan is generally preferred. Often a shovel or plate of 
iron is used. Three jjounds of amalgam, from which the 
liquid metal has been carefully pressed out, will yield one 
pound of gold. The gold remaining after the quicksilver has 
been driven off by heat from tlie amalgam, is a porous mass, 
somewhat resembling sponge-cake in appearance. 

§ 228. Riffle-Bars. — The riffle-bars used as false bottoms 
in sluices, are usually sawed longitudinally with the grain 
of the wood, but "block riffle-bars" are considered prefer- 
able ; the latter are cut across the tree, and the grain stands 
upright in the sluice-box. The block riffle-bars are three times 
more durable than the longitudinal ; and as the latter kind ai'e 
worn out in a week in some large sluices, there is a consider- 
able saving in using the former. 

§ 229. Double Sluices. — Sluices are sometimes made 
double — that is, with a longitudinal division thx-ough the 
middle, so that thei-e are two distinct sluice-boxes side by 
side. Two companies may be working side by side, so that it 
will be cheaper for them to build their sluices jointly. An- 
other device for saving gold in sluices is the " under-current 
box." There is a grating of iron bars in the bottom of a box, 
near the lower end of a sluice ; and under this grating is an- 
other sluice, with an additional supply of clean water, and 
with a lower gi-ade. The grating allows only the fine mate- 
rial to fall through ; and the current of water being moder- 
ate, many particles of gold, that would otherwise be lost, are 
saved. Sometimes the matter from the under-current box is 
led back to the main sluice. 

§ 230. RocJc-Shdces. — Large sluices are frequently paved 
with stone, which makes a more durable false bottom than 
wood, and catches fine gold better than riffle-bars. Tlie stone 
bottoms have another advantage — that it is not so easy for 



1 



MINING. 309 

thieves to come and clean up at night, as is often clone in riffle- 
bar sluices. But, on the other hand, cleaning up is more diffi- 
cult and tedious in a rock-sluice, and so is the putting down of 
the false bottom after cleaning up. The stones used are cob- 
bles, six or eight inches through at the greatest diameter, and 
usually flattish. A good workman will pave eight hundred 
square feet of sluice-box with them in a day ; and after the 
water and dirt have run over them for an hour, they ai-e fast- 
ened very tightly by the sand collected between them. In 
large sluices, wooden riffle-bars are worn away very rapidly — 
the expense amounting sometimes, in very large and long 
sluices, to twenty or thirty dollars a day ; and in this point 
there is an important saving by using the stone bottoms. 
They are used only in large sluices, and they generally have a 
grade of twelve or fourteen inches to the box of twelve feet. 

§ 231. Hydraulic Washiny. — Most of the gold of the 
placer mines of California is obtained by hydraulic washing — 
that is, throwing water under a strong pressure against the 
banks of auriferous gravel, which is then canned by the water 
into a sluice. The hydraulic process is applied only in claims 
where the dirt is deep and where the water is abundant. li 
the dirt were shallow in the claim and its vicinity, the neces- 
sary head of water could not be obtained. Hydraulic claims 
are usually in hills. The water is led along on the hill at a 
height varying from fifty to five hundred feet above the bed- 
rock, to the claim at the end or side of the hill, where the 
water, playing against the dirt, soon cuts a large hole, with 
perpendicular or at least steep banks. From the top of the 
bank, a hose or iron pipe extends down to the bottom of the 
claim. The hose is of heavy duck, sometimes double sewn, by 
machine. When full, it is from four to ten inches in diameter, 
and will bear a perpendicular column of water fifty feet high : 
but a greater height will burst it. Now, as the force of the 
stream increases with the height of the water, it is a matter of 
great importance to have the hose as strong as possible ; and 



310 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

for tliis purpose, in some claims, it is surrounded by iron bands, 
which are about two inclies wide, and are connected by four 
roi^es which run perpendicularly down. The rings are about 
three inches apart. The " crinoline hose," thus made, is very 
flexible, and will support a column of water one hundred and 
fifty or two hundred feet high. The j^ipe at the end of the hose 
is like the pipe of a lire-engine hose, though usually larger. 
Sometimes the pipe will be eight inches in diameter where it 
connects with the liose, and not more than two inches at the 
mouth ; and the force with which the stream rushes from it is 
so great, that it will kill a man instantaneously, and tear 
down a hill more rapidly than could a hundred men with 
shovels. One or two men are required to hold the pipe when 
it is to be held ; but usually it is supported on a frame-work. 
These remarks apply, however, mainly to the small claims ; in 
the larger ones, the water is brought down the hill in iron 
pipe, whence it ])asses into a patent nozzle which will discharge 
three, five, or eight hundred inches of water through an arifice 
from four to eight inches in diameter ; the speed, in consequence 
of the pi-essure, being ten times as great as at the top of the 
hill. Such a stream, under a head of three or even live hund- 
red feet, has terrific force, and will make boulders a foot 
through jump twenty feet into the air, when it strikes them. 

The miners usually turn the stream upon the bank near its 
bottom until a large mass of dirt tumbles down, and then they 
wash this all away into the sluice ; when they commence at 
the bottom of the bank again, and so on. If the bank is one 
hundred and fifty feet high, the mass of earth that tumbles 
down is of course immense, and the pipemeu must stand far 
off for fear that they will be caught in the avalanche. Such 
accidents are of daily occurrence, and the deaths from this 
cause probably ai"e not less than a score every year in the 
State. Often legs are broken ; still more frequently the pipe- 
men have warning, and escape in time. When men are bur- 
ied iu the falling dirt the water is used to wash them out. In 



MINING. 311 

some claims, tlie pipe will tear down more dirt than the sluice 
can wash ; in other claims, the sluice always demands more 
dirt tlian the pipe can bring down. In tlie latter case, blast- 
ing may be used to loosen the dirt, or tlie miners may under- 
mine tlie bank, leaving a few columns of dirt for support ; 
and then these being washed away by the pipe, the whole 
bank comes tumbling down. 

In hydraulic claims all the dirt is washed ; in all other 
kinds of claims, such dirt as contains no gold is thrown to one 
side, or " stripped otf." " Hydraulic mining " is the highest 
branch of placer mining ; it washes more dirt and requires 
more water, and a larger sluice, than any other kind of min- 
ing. The number of men employed in a hydraulic claim, 
however, is usually small — from three to six — the water doing 
nearly all the work. In some claims a man is constantly em- 
ployed with a heavy sledge-hammer in breaking up large 
stones, so that the pieces may be sent down the sluice. One 
man attends to the sluice, and sees that the dirt does not 
choke up in the sluice, or in the claim above it. 

The quantity of dirt that can be washed with a hydraulic 
pipe depends upon various circumstances — sucli as the supply 
of water, the height of its fall, the toughness of the dirt, and 
the amount of moisture in it. More can be washed in winter 
than in summer, because the dirt is then moister, and requires 
less water to loosen and dissolve it. The quantity of water 
used in a hydraulic claim is from forty inches to three thous- 
and. With one hundred inches, at least thirty cubic yards 
can be washed in ten hours, on an average ; and three men 
can do all the work. If there were a cent's worth of gold in 
each cubic foot, the thirty cubic yards would yield eight 
dollars and ten cents per day, or two dollars and seventy 
cents to the man, exclusiye of the cost of water. The water 
usually costs ten cents an inch per day, so that one hund- 
red inches would cost ten dollars. Allowing for the water 
at that rate, a claim in which thirty cubic yards could be 



312 RESOUKCES OF CALIFORlSriA. 

washed in a clay with one hundred inches of watei*, and in 
which the dirt contained five cents to the cubic foot, would 
leave a net pay of ten dollars and sixteen cents to each man 
per day. 

One hydraulic company washed two hundred and twenty- 
four thousand cubic feet of dirt in six days, using two hundred 
inches of water, and employing ten men. The wages of the 
men amounted, at four dollars per day each, to two hundred 
and forty dollars ; the water cost three hundred dollars ; and 
the waste of quicksilver, and wear of sluice, perhaps one hund- 
red dollars more, making a total expenditure of six hundi'ed 
and forty dollars ; and the gold obtained was three tliousand 
dollars, leaving a clear profit of twenty-tliree luindred and 
fifty dollars. The dirt contained one cent and a fifth of gold 
in a cubic foot. 

Another company used two thousand inches of water for a 
hundred days in washing down 1,000,000 cubic yards of gravel, 
obtained $32,000 gross, or three cents and a fifth to a cubic 
yard of gravel, and netted $12,000, or one cent and a fifth to 
a yard. The area of the ground washed down was 1,100 feet 
long, 300 feet wide, and 80 feet deep, and the quantity of 
gravel carried down every day on an average 10,000 cubic 
yards. 

The greater the amount of water used, the greater the pro- 
portionate amount of dirt that can be washed, and the greater 
the proportionate profits. It is far more profitable to have a 
large sluice than a little one, if the water and dirt can be ob- 
tained in abundance. Usually, in a hydraulic claim, the dirt 
is washed down to the bed-rock ; but in some places tlie wash- 
ing stops far above the bed-rock, because there is no outlet for 
the water. 

§ 232. Ground-Sluice. — All the sluices hitherto mentioned 
and described have wooden boxes, but the ground-sluice has no 
box : the Avater runs on the ground. The place selected for the 
ground-sluice is some spot where there is a considerable supply 



MINING. 313 

of water, a steep descent f<n- it, and much poor dirt. Tlie stream 
is turned througli a little ditch, which the miners labor to deepen 
and enlarge ; and when it is deep they prize off" the high banks 
so that the dirt may fall down into the ditch. This is a very- 
cheap and expeditious way of washing, but it is not applied 
extensively. 

§ 233. Cradle. — The rocker or cradle is still less than the 
torn and inferior in capacity. It bears some resemblance in 
shape and size to a child's cradle, and rests upon similar rock- 
ers. The cradle-box is about forty inches long, twenty wide, 
and four high, and it stands with the upper end about two 
feet higher than the lower end, which is open, so that the tail- 
ings can run out. On the upper end of the cradle-box stands 
a hopper or riddle-box, twenty inches square, with sides four 
inches high. The bottom of this riddle-box is of sheet-iron, 
perforated with holes half an inch in diameter. The riddle- 
box is not nailed to the cradle-box, but can be lifted oif with- 
out difficulty. Under the riddle is an " apron " of wood or 
cloth, fastened to the sides of the cradle-box and sloping down 
to the upper end of it. Across the bottom of tlie cradle-box 
are two riiile-bars about an inch square, one in the middle, the 
other at the end of the box. The dirt is shoveled into the 
hopper, the " cradler " sits down beside his machine, and while 
with one hand with a ladle he pours water from a pool at his 
side upon the dirt, with the other he rocks the cradle. With 
the water and the motion the dirt is dissolved, and carried 
down through the riddle, falling upon the apron, which carries 
it to the head of the cradle-box, whence it runs downward 
and out, leaving its gold, black sand, and heavier particles of 
sand and gravel behind the riffle-bars. 

§ 234. IVie Sluice. — The board-sluice is a long wooden 
ti'ough, through which a constant stream of water runs, and 
into which the auriferous dirt is thrown. The water carries 
away the clay, sand, gravel, and stones, and leaves the gold in 
the bottom of the sluice, where it is caught by its gravity and 



314 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

by quicksilver. Tlie board-sluice was for a time the great 
wasliing machine, and the most important instrument used in 
the placer mining of California. It washed nearly all the dirt, 
and caught nearly all the placer gold. It was invented here, 
although it had previously been used elsewhere ; and it has 
been more extensively employed here than in any other country. 
It is not less than fifty feet long, nor less than a foot wide, 
made of boards. The width is usually sixteen or eighteen 
inches, and never exceeds five feet. The length is ordinarily 
several hundred, and sometimes several thousand feet. 

§ 235. Pan. — The pan is used in all branches of gold min- 
ing, either as an instrument for washing, or as a receptacle for 
gold, amalgam, or rich dirt. It is made of stiti:' tin or sheet- 
iron, with a fiat bottom about a foot across, and with sides six 
inches high, rising at an angle of forty-five degrees. A little 
variation in the size or shape of the pan will not injure its 
value for washing. Sheet-iron is preferable to tin, because it 
is usually stronger and does not amalgamate with mercury. 
The pan is the simplest of all instruments used for washing 
luriferous dirt. Some dirt, not enough to fill it full, is put in, 
ind the pan is then put under water. The earthy part of tlie dirt 
s rapidly dissolved by the water, assisted by the shaking of the 
pan and the rolling of the gravel from side to side, and forms a 
nud, which runs out while clean water runs in. The light 
land flows out with the thin mud, while the lumps of tough 
day and the large stones remain. The stones collect on the 
■op of the clay, and they are scraped together with the fingers 
ind thrown out. This process continues, the pan being grad- 
lally raised in the water, and its outer edge depressed, until 
dl the earthy matter has been dissolved, and that, as well as 
be stones, swept away by the water, while the gold remains at 
jh"e bottom. Panning is not difficult, but it requires practice 
:o learn the degree of shaking which dissolves the dirt and 
throws out the stones most ra])idly without losing the gold- 
Amalgam can be separated from dirt, by washing, almost as 



MINING. 315 

well as gold. In panning-out, it frequently happens that con- 
siderable amounts of black sand containing fine particles of 
gold are obtained, and this sand is so heavy that it cannot be 
separated from the gold by washing, while it is easily separated 
in that way from gravel, stones, and common dirt. The black 
sand is dried, and a small quantity of it placed in a " blower," 
a shallow tin dish open at one end. The miner then, holding 
the pan with the open end from him, blows out the sand, leav- 
ing the particles of gold. He must blow gently, just strong 
enough to blow out the sand, and no stronger. From time to 
time he must shake the blower so as to change the position of 
the particles, and bring all the sand in the range of his breath. 
The gold cannot be cleansed perfectly in this manner, but the 
sand contains iron, and the little of it remaining is easily re- 
moved by a magnet. The blower should be very smooth, and 
made of either tin, brass, or cojjper. 

§ 236. Dry Washing. — Dry washing is a method of win- 
nowing gold from dirt. In many parts of the mining districts 
of California, water cannot be obtained during the summer for 
mining purposes. The miner tlierefore manages to wash his 
dirt witliout water. He takes only rich dirt, and putting it on 
a rawhide, he pulverizes all the lumps and picks out the large 
stones. He then with a large flat basin throws the dirt up 
into the air, catches it as it comes down, throws it up again, 
and repeats this operation until nothing but the gold remains. 

§ 237. Fuddling-Box. — The puddling-box is a rough wooden 
box, about a foot deep and six feet square, and is used for 
dissolving very tough clay. The clay is thrown into the box, 
with water, and a miner stirs the stuti:' with a hoe until the 
clay is all thoroughly dissolved, when he takes a plug from an 
auger-hole about four inches from the bottom, and lets the 
thin solution of the clay run oil", while the heavier material, 
including the gold, remains at the bottom. He then puts in 
the plug again, fills up tlie box with water, throws in more 
clay, and repeats the process again and again until night, 



316 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

when he cleans up witli a cradle or pan. The puddlhig-box is 
used in very few places in California. 

§ 238, Tunnel Claims. — 31nch of the placer gold has been 
obtained from tunnel claims, most of which have been in the 
beds of dead rivers, in places where the pay dirt Avas covered 
by a great depth of barren or liard material, or where tlie 
supply of water was not sutticient for hydraulic washing. 
Thus, in the Tuolumne Table Mountain, tunnels were necessary 
to reach the gold. Among the principal tunnel mining camps 
are Forest Hill, Bath, Alleghany, Minnesota, Forest City, 
Oregon City, and Howland Flat, all on the lines of dead 
rivers. A tunnel, in Californian mining, is an adit or drift 
entering a hill-side, or running out from a shaft. Mining tun- 
nels are usually nearly liorizontal — those entering hill-sides 
having a slight ascent, for the double purpose of draining the 
mine, and to facilitate the removal of the pay dirt. In a few 
hills the tunnels run downward, at an angle of twenty degrees 
or more, to avoid veins or ledges of rock, wliich would have to 
be blasted through if the tunnel were cut horizontally ; but 
this can only be done with safety in liills which are drained by 
older horizontal tunnels. Tlie mining tunnel does not run 
through a hill, but only into it. The length of tunnels varies 
greatly ; the longest are about a mile. Tlie usual height is 
seven feet, the width five feet. Ordinarily the top must be 
supported by timbers, to prevent it from falling in, and not 
unfrequently the sides must also be protected by boards. The 
cost of cutting a tunnel varies from two to forty dollars a 
longitudinal foot, according to the nature of the ground, the 
cost of getting timbers, etc. Tunnels are frequently made by 
companies of eight or ten men, of whom one-half may bo 
merchants, lawyers, physicians, or office-holders, and the 
remainder laboring miners. The latter class do the work ; 
the former furnish provisions and tools, and a certain amount 
of cash weekly, until the pay-dirt is reached. 



MINING. 317 

§ 239. Shafts. — Shafts are used in prospecting, aud also in 
mining, where the claims are deep and cannot be reached by 
either the hydraulic process or the tunnel. The prospecting 
shaft is sometimes sunk into hills supposed to be auriferous, 
where the shaft is far less expensive than the tunnel. After 
the shaft demonstrates that the dii-t is rich, and precisely the 
altitude at which it lies, a tunnel is cut to strike it. The shaft 
may be the cheaper for prospecting, but the tunnel is usually 
the cheaper if any large amount of dirt is to be taken out. 

The shaft is dug by one man in the hole, and one or two 
are employed at a windlass in hauling up the dirt. Mining 
shafts in placer diggings are rarely over one hundred feet 
deep ; but one was dug in Trinity County to the depth of six 
hundred feet, for the purpose of prospecting. It found neither 
pay-dirt nor the bed-rock. 

§ 240. River Mining. — River mining is mining for gold iu 
the beds of rivers, below low-water mark. The only practi- 
cable method of doing this is by damming the stream, and 
taking the water out of its bed in a ditch or tlume. It has 
been proposed by persons who never saw the mines, to get the 
gold by dredgmg, or with a diving-bell ; but such schemes are 
absurd in the eyes of miners. The rivers in which the gold is 
found are mountain-torrents, in which a canoe can scarcely 
float in summer, much less a dredging-machine ; and any 
large scoop working under water would miss the crevices and 
corners in the rocks, where most of the gold is found. As the 
water is very seldom more than a couple of feet deep, a diving- 
bell would be of little service. The flume, the ditch, and the 
wing-dam are the chief tasks of the river-miner. The ditch is 
rarely used, because the banks of the mining-streams are 
usually so steep, high, rocky, and crooked, that a flume is 
cheaper. The wing-dam is not often used, because the river- 
beds are in most places too narrow. The flume is almost uni- 
versally employed. 

§ 241. Beach Mining. — Beach mining is the business of 
washing the sands of the ocean-beach. Between Point Men- 



318 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

docino, in California, and the montli of the Umpqua River, in 
Oregon, the beach-sand contains gold, and in some places it is 
very ricli. The beach is narrow, and lies a.t the foot of a blufi" 
bank of auriferous sand. In times of storm, the waves wash 
against this bank, undermine it, sweep away the pieces winch 
tumble down, leaving the gold on the beach. Tlie gold is in 
very tine particles, and it moves with the heavier sand, which 
alters its position frequently under tlie inHuence of the waves 
and surf. One day, the beach will have six feet depth of sand ; 
the next, there will be nothing save bare rocks. The sand 
dilfers greatly in richness at various times : one day, it will be 
full of golden specks ; a few days later, at the same place, it 
will be barren. The sand in the mean time has been moved 
by the waves, and replaced by other sand. 

It is a very difficult matter to know where the sand is rich 
and where it is not. The companies employed in mining on 
the beach number about ten men ; and there is a foreman, who 
rides out early every morning, following the beach about two 
miles to the northward and two miles to the southward of the 
camp, for the purpose of finding where the sand is the best. 
So changeable is the sand, that a new examination is made 
every day ; and only three or four men are su])posed to be 
good judges of the quality of sand, fi'om its appearance. 

When the foreman has selected a place, he orders all the 
men to it, and they go with twenty pack mules, which carry 
the sand in alforjas, or rawhide sacks, to the place of wash- 
ing, which is up on the bluff, probably a mile or more distant 
from the spot where the sand is obtained. It happens occa- 
sionally that the foreman rides long distances on the beach, 
and sometimes he will order the sand to be obtained ten miles 
from the washing place. The sand must, of course, be very 
rich to pay for such transportation, but the beacli sand at 
times in the sunlight is said to be actually dazzling yellow 
with gold. The purpose of going upon the bluff to wash it is 
to get fresh water for washing; for the sea water is not so good, 



MINING. 319 

nor can it be obtained conveniently. The richest dirt is that 
the farthest down on the beach, so still weather and low tide 
are the best times for getting it. When a rich place is dis- 
covered low down on the beach, great exertions are made to 
get as much of the sand as possible before the tide rises. 
When high tide arid storm come together, little can be done. 
The sand, having been separated from all clay and soluble 
matter by the action of the sea, is very easily washed, and all 
collected in a month can be washed in two days in a sluice. 

§ 242. Placer Prospecting. — " Prospecting," or the seai'ch 
for gold deposits, does not require much experience or scien- 
titic knowledge. The following are some general rules for the 
prospector : 

1. Gold probably exists in every district where granite, 
slate, and quartz veins are found together or in near proximity 
to one another. 

2. If there is any gold in a district, it is to be found in the 
beds of the larger ravines. 

3. Profitable diggings are to be found only in the moun- 
tains, or in the plain immediately below them, 

4. The gold, if any, is to be found by digging to the bed- 
rock in the beds of gullies or streams, at the mouths of can- 
ons, or in bars at the lower ends of rapids, at low stages of 
water. If there be any gold in the basin of a river, some 
particles of the metal will be found in its bars above the level 
of low water. 

5. Gold is most abundant in places where the bed is nearly 
level, just below long and steep pitches; and more metal 
collects where the bed-rock is rough than where it is smooth. 

6. In a country rich in gold, a pan of dirt taken from the 
bed-rock of a large ravine will usually show some specks of 
the metal, 

7. The smaller and smoother the particles, the farther they 
have come. 

The pan is used for washing the dirt to be prospected. 



320 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

§ 243. Quartz Mining. — Quartz miuing dilFers much from 
placer mining. For tlie former, more capital, more experi- 
ence, more corajilicated machinery, and richer material, are re- 
quired than for the latter. The placer miner throws the dirt 
into the water, which then does the work ; whereas the pul- 
verizing of rock is a nice operation. Quartz requires a mill 
and water power ; placer dirt is washed in a simple sluice. 
Dirt containing ten cents in the cubic yard may pay the 
hydraulic miner, but the quartz miner must have a hundred 
times as much in a cubic yard of vein- stone, or he cannot 
work. The placer gold, when freed from the baser material 
suiTOunding it, is much of it in coarse particles, which are 
easily caught by their specific gravity ; the quartz gold must 
be reduced to a fine powder before it can be set free, and with 
the fineness of the particles increases the difticulty of catching 
them. 

§ 244. Prospecting for Quartz. — Auriferous quartz lodes are 
often found by accident. Not unfrequently it happens that 
a rich streak of pay-dirt in a placer claim is followed up to the 
quartz claim from which it came. While miners are out walk- 
ing or hunting, they occasionally will come upon lodes in 
which the gold is seen sparkling. Some good leads have been 
found by men employed in making roads and cutting ditches. 
The quartz might be covered with soil, but the pick and 
shovel revealed its position and wealth. In Tuolumne 
County, in 1858, a hunter shot a grizzly bear on the side of a 
steep canon, and the animal tumbling down, was caught by a 
projecting point of rock. The hunter followed his game, and 
while skinning the animal, discovered that the point of rock 
was auriferous quartz. In Mariposa County, in 1855, a miner 
was attacked by a robber, and the former saw a sparkle behind 
his assailant at a spot where a bullet struck a wall of rock. 
He killed the robber, and found that the rock was gold bearing 
quartz. In Nevada County, several years ago, a couple of un- 
fortunate miners who had prepared to leave California, and 



MINING. 321 

were out on a drunken frolic, started a large boulder down a 
steep hill. On its way down, it struck a brown rock and 
broke a portion of it off — exposing a vein of white quartz 
which proved to be auriferous, induced the disappointed min- 
ers to remain some "months longer in the State, and paid them 
well for remaining. Science and experience do not appear to 
give much assistance in prospegting for quartz lodes. Chemists, 
geologists, mineralogists, and old miners, have not done better 
than ignorant men and new-comers. Most of the best veins 
have been discovered by poor and ignorant men. Not one 
has been found by a man of high education as a miner or 
geologist. No doubt, geological knowledge is valuable to a 
miner, and it should assist him in prospecting ; but it has never 
yet enabled anybody to find a valuable claim. 

It is useless to prospect for auriferous quartz in a country 
where no placer gold has been found. If the metal exists in 
the rock, some of it will also be found in the alluvium, and it 
can be discovered there more readily than in the vein. After 
the placers have been found, then search should be made for 
the quartz. The following rules are serviceable : 

1. If a ravine is rich in gold to a certain point and bari'en 
above, look for a quartz vein in the hill-sides just above the 
place where the riclmess ceases. 

2. A line of pieces of quartz rock observed in a hill-side, 
probably indicates the course of a quartz vein. 

3. If a ravine ci'osses a quartz vein, fragments of the rock 
will be found in its bed below. 

4. A large quartz vein will often show its presence in the 
topography of the country, by forming hills in those spots 
where the rock happens to be very hard. 

5. Quartz can be found and the veins traced with com- 
paratively little labor in the steep banks of canons, where the 
rock is base or is covered with but little soil. 

6. If a quartz vein contains gold, some of the metal may- 
be perceptible to the naked eye. 

21 



322 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

§ 245. Quartz Mining as a business. — Many fine fortunes 
have been lost in gold-quartz mining, and it is proper to give 
warning to the ignorant against the dangei^s that beset 
the business. Here ai'e a few remarks for the consideration 
of inexperienced persons solicited to take an interest in quartz 
mines. 

1 . Gold quartz mining is one of the most uncertain of all 
occupations. 

2. No amount of experience, scientific knowledge, and 
prudence, will secure the investor against loss in it. 

3. Many of the men engaged in it are very bold, and 
their statements must not be accepted without great caution, 
even when there is proof of their sincerity. 

4. No one should risk more in gold quartz than he can af- 
ford to lose without serious inconvenience. 

5. The presence of large lumps of gold in a vein, is no 
evidence of a profitable mine. Most of the best mines have 
had little rich rock ; and the finest specimens have come from 
mines that are not now worked. It is the large supply of pay- 
ing quartz, and not the extraordinary richness of small pieces, 
that makes the great mine. 

G. There is no occupation in which it is easier to waste 
money by inexperience, carelessness, or folly. 

7. No business has greater need of the j^resence and con- 
stant attention of an economical, attentive, and capable man- 
ager, directly interested in tlie business. 

8. For persons of small means, the only safe way to work 
a quartz mine is to make it pay as it goes along, and to aban- 
don it whenever the outgo exceeds the income. 

9. Many of the best quartz mines in the State were rich at 
the surface, and have yielded more than enough from the be- 
ginning to pay for all the work exi^ended on them. 

10. Not one in five of the mines which did not pay at the 
surface, and has been worked to a depth of one hundred feet, 

. has ever paid. 



MINING. 323 

11. The richness of a vein at one point is no evidence of 
its richness at another. 

12. Not one quartz miner in a tliousand has made a mod- 
erate fortune. 

13. Nearly all the owners of the rich quartz mines of Cal- 
ifornia are capitalists, who made money in other business, and 
then could afibrd to risk considerable sums in ventures which 
they considered uncertain. 

14. Do not build your mill till you have opened your mine, 
and got enough pay-rock in sight to pay for it. 

15. The following remarks of Wm. Ashburner, mining en- 
gineer, are as worthy of attention as when they were written 
ten years since : 

"In 1858, there were upwards of 280 quartz-mills in Cali- 
fornia, each one of which was supplied with quartz from one 
or more veins. The number of stamps in these mills was 
2,610, and the total cost of the whole mill property of this 
nature in the State exceeded $3,000,000. In the summer of 
1861, while I was attached to the Geological Survey, I made 
a careful and thorough examination of all the quartz-mills and 
mines of the State, and could only find between forty and fifty 
mills in successful operation, several of which were at tliat 
time leading a very precarious existence." 

16. A good quartz mine, well managed, is the most profita- 
ble and satisfactory kind of property to be found in California. 

§ 246. Rich 3flnes. — Among the quartz mines which have 
produced the largest sums, are the following : The Princeton 
mine, which has produced $4,000,000 ; the Pine Tree and 
Josephine, which together produced $350,000 from the 1st 
May, 1860, to the 1st May, 1863 ; and the Mariposa mine, 
which produced $84,948 in 1864, are in the Mariposa grant, 
and have all been idle most of the time since 1865. The New 
Britain has yielded $52,000, tlie Sherman $200,000, and the 
Hite's Cove now yields $15,000 net per mouth. 

In Tuolumne County, the Soulsby yielded for a time $100,- 



324 ■ RESOURCES OF CALIFORNrA. 

000 aunually, the Piatt has paid $40,000 profit, the Grizzly 
has produced $125,000, the Excelsior $300,000, the Sell & 
Martin ?:150,000, the Tennessee $60,000, the Austrian $100,- 
000, and the Sophia $45,000. 

The Morgan mine, on Carson Hill, in Calaveras County, 
(according to the statement of Thomas Dear, who is reputed 
to have better opportunities of knowing than any body else) 
produced $2,800,000 from February, 1850, to December, 1851. 
Mr. Stevenot, however, who claimed an interest in the mine, 
though he did not succeed in the courts, says the sum was 
$1,500,000. At any rate, immense masses of gold were found, 
and tlie town of Melones, at the foot of the hill, was the 
largest mining camp in the State for a time. The South Car- 
olina lias yielded $400,000, the Reserve $100,000, the Bovee 
$000,000, Hill's Mine $250,000, and the Cherokee $100,000. 

The Hayward mine, in Amador County, has been reported 
to be the most profitable mine in the State. About 24,000 
tons are crushed in a year, and there are 120,000 tons in sight. 
The present supply of ore is obtained 1,200 feet below the 
surface, and 300 feet below the level of the sea. The Key- 
stone, a mile and a half distant, pays $80,000 a year in divi- 
dends. The Oneida, a mile and a half distant in the other 
direction, has produced very large sums, and has in sight 90,- 
000 tons of rock, expected to yield about $17 per ton. The 
total expense is about $5 per ton. The Seaton mine has yielded 
$100,000. 

In El Dorado County, the richest mines have been the Pacific, 
which has yielded $500,000, the Woodside, which yielded 
$12,000 in specimens, the Danes, and the Shepard. 

In Placer County, the St. Patrick is the most notable. 

In Nevada County, the Eureka has yielded $3,000,000 ; the 
North Star $500,000 profit ; the Allison $2,300,000 ; Massa- 
chusetts Hill $5,600,000 ; New York Hill $500,000 ; Missouri 
Hill $200,000 ; the Fellows $1,000,000 ; Norambagua $80,000 ; 
Gold Hill $4,000,000 ; Union Hill $74,000 ; Empire $1,300,- 



MINING. 325 

000; Hueston Hill $1,000,000; Osborne Hill $1,000,000; 
Lone Jack $500,000 ; Gold Tunnel $1,000,000 ; Nevada $400,. 
000 ; Sneath & Clay $300,000 ; Lecompton $250,000 ; Wig- 
ham $200,000 ; the Banner $200,000 ; and the Idaho several 
millions, now yielding $4,000 daily. 

In Sierra County, the Sierra Buttes mine has paid more 
regularly than any other in the State, having been worked 
steadily for more than twenty years, and having yielded about 
$2,500,000, including more than $1,000,000 profit. The In- 
dependence, on the same vein, yielded $100,000 in 1866. The 
Primrose, two miles distant, has yielded $226,000 — idle. The 
Union, one mile from Alleghany, yielded $75,000 in a pocket. 

In Plumas Connty, the Eureka has yielded $1,600,000 ; the 
Mammoth, $1,000,000; the Crescent, $500,000; and the 
Whitney, $68,000. 

In Yuba County, at Brown's Valley, twelve miles from 
Marysville, and not more than 500 feet above the level of the 
sea, are the Pennsylvania, which yielded at one time $10,000 
net per month ; the Jefferson, which has paid $250,000 of 
dividends ; and the Dannebroge, which has yielded $250,000, 

§ 247. Extraction. — The extraction of auriferous quartz 
after it has been found, does not differ in any important ma- 
terial from the extraction of other ores in narrow veins. The 
rules for running tunnels and drifts for stoping, draining, ven- " 
tilating, and timbering, are precisely the same. Extraction, 
however, requires much experience and judgment for proper 
management. The dip, thickness, and material of the vein, 
the horizontal length and the dip of the pay-chute, the char- 
acter of the walls, the supply of water, and the situation of 
the mill, must be taken into consideration. Access must be 
had to the lower works by a horizontal tunnel, or vertical 
shaft, or an incline running down on the dip of the lode. 
There are, however, very few auriferous quartz mines in which 
the lower works can be reached profitably by a tunnel. 
Ordinarily an incline is preferred ; it goes down in the vein- 



326 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

Stone, which sometimes, but rarely, pays for the work of taking 
it out. After the shaft or incline is down, levels or drifts are 
run off horizontally as far as the pay-rock extends, at intervals 
usually of a hundred feet, and the levels are numbered from 
the surface ; so when we read that they have found good rock 
in a certain mine at the eighth level, we presume tliat it is 
eight hundred feet below the surface. The rock between two 
levels is broken down or stoped out, and it falls to the drift or 
level below, where it is loaded in a car and hauled to the 
shaft, in which it is carried up, 

§ 248. Pulverization. — Nearly all the quartz of California 
is crushed by stamps or iron hammers, ten inches in diameter, 
and weighing 500 pounds. The stamp is fastened to a vertical 
iron stem about six feet long, and near the top is a projection 
by which a cam or a revolving shaft lifts the stamp a foot 
high and then lets it fall. Five stamps ai'e placed side by side 
in a battery, and they fall successively, each making about 40 
blows in a minute. The quartz is shoveled in on the upper 
side, and when pulverized sufficiently, it is can'ied away 
through a wire screen on the lower side by a stream of water, 
which .poxxrs into the battery steadily. 

§ 249 Arrastra. — The arrastra is the simplest instrument 
for grinding auriferous quartz. It is a circular bed of stone, 
from eight to twenty feet in diameter, on which the quartz is 
ground by a large stone dmgged round and round by horse 
or mule power. There are two kinds of arrastras, the rude 
and improved. The rude arrastra is made with a pavement of 
unhewn flat stones, whidli are usually laid down in clay. The 
pavement of tlie improved arrastra is made of hewn stone, 
cut very accurately and laid down in cement. In the center 
of the bed of the arrastra is an upright post which turns on a 
pivot, and running through the post is a horizontal bar, pro- 
jecting on each side to the outer edge of the pavement. On 
each arm of this bar is attached by a chain a large flat stone 
or muUer, weighing from three hundred to five hundred 



MINING. 327 

pounds. It is so hung that the forward end is about an inch 
above the bed, and the hind end drags on the bed and crushes 
the quartz. 

§ 250. Amalgamation. — The pulverized auriferous quartz, as 
it comes from the stamps, consists of fine particles of rock and 
gold mixed together, and the objects of the miner are to sep- 
arate them, save the metal, and let the other material escape. 
Here again a small sluice, similar in principle to that used in 
placer mining, is used ; but instead of rifiie-bars, the bottom of 
the sluice is copper, covered with quicksilver, or is a rough 
blanket, in which the gold and heaviest sands are caught. In 
many mills quicksilver is placed in the battery, two ounces of 
quicksilver for one of gold ; and about two-thirds of the gold 
is caught thus. Next the battery is the apron, a copper plate 
covered with quicksilver, on which a good share of the gold 
is caught. 

§ 251. Concentration. — Below the aprons different devices 
for catching the gold are used in different mills. The blanket 
is the most common. It is a coarse blanket, laid at the bot- 
tom of a sluice through which the pulp from the battery runs, 
and the gold, black sand, and sulphurets are caught in the 
wool, while the lighter material runs off. The blanket is 
washed out in a tub at intervals of half an hour or an hour. 

In some mines nearly half of the gold is mixed with pyrites, 
and refuses to be caught by quicksilver. In such case a sluice 
may be used to separate the sulphurets, which may form three 
per cent, of the pulverized rock. This separation is called 
concentration, and the material obtained is concentrated tail- 
ings. The sulphurets are five times as heavy as water, and 
twice as heavy as quartz, so the separation is not difficult 
when the supply of w^ater is abundant. 

§ 252. Chlorination. — In roasting for chlorination we have, 
first, to oxydize the iron, and next, by introduction of salt, to 
chloridize certain other substances which vary with the locality 
from which the ore is obtained. When this is rightly done we 



328 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

have usually formed either oxydes or oxychlorides of all the 
base metals in the ore treated, leaving gold as the only 
free metal to absorb the chlorine gas. In order to be sucess- 
ful in roasting the ore, attention must be given to the construc- 
tion of the furnace. If the arch over the hearth is too high, the 
ore will not be oxydized ; so also if the flues are too large, or 
the damper is opened too wide, as the excess of cold air or 
draft cools the ore. Then again, if the arch is too low, or flues 
too small, the air will fail to yield its oxygen to desulphurize and 
oxydize the ore. Cold air must always flow into the furnace 
thix)ugh the work-holes, but it must be in proper quantities — 
and the work-holes must be in proportion to the chimney-flues. 
The main principle of chlorination is, that the metallic gold is 
dissolved by chlorine gas, while metallic ox3'-des are left un- 
touched. The ore is fii*st roasted in a furaace of proper con- 
struction, and then enclosed in a covered vat, into which 
chlorine gas is introduced, until all the gold is converted into 
chloride of gold ; and then the vat is opened and filled with 
water, which dissolves the gold as sugar is dissolved under sim- 
ilar circumstances. The solution is drawn ofl*, and the metal- 
lic gold precipitated from it by the introduction of the proto- 
sulphate of iron. Tlie cost of the entire process does not ex- 
ceed $20 per ton ; and in some locations, where wood is cheap 
and freights moderate, it may be woi-ked as low as $12 per ton 
of sulphurets. The roasting is the most diflicult step in the 
entire process, but evei-y part must be con-ectly performed. 

§ 253. Quicksilver. — The productive quicksilver mines of 
California are all in the Coast Mountains, between latitudes 
36° and 39^. There are three main groups : those of Santa 
Clai-a County, including the New Almaden, which produces 
11,000 flasks annually ; those of Fresno, including the New 
Idria, which yields about 6,000; and those of Napa, including 
the liedington, producing 7,000. The yield is irregular 
in all the districts and all the mines, the ore being found in 
masses almost disconnected ; so that the working of a good 
body of cinnabar in one year may be followed by several 



MINING. 329 

years of searching for others hke it. The total production of 
the State has never exceeded 52,000 flasks in a year, and at 
present may be estimated at little more than half that amount. 

The New Almadeu is the great mine of the State, and has 
produced in the last twenty-four years about 600,000 flasks, or 
45,000,000 pounds of metal. The highest production was in 
1864, when it reached 43,000 flasks. It is situated fifteen 
miles southward from San Jose. The New Idria mine is on 
the eastern slope of the Diablo ridge, seventy-five miles south- 
eastward from Hollister ; the Rediugton mine, twenty-eight 
miles east of Calistoga ; the Phoenix and Washington, in Pope 
Valley, ten miles east of Calistoga ; the Oakville, six miles 
southward from the town of St. Helena ; and the St. Johns, five 
miles northeast wai-d from Vallejo. The St. Johns and the 
Great Western, eighteen miles beyond Calistoga, are mines that 
promise to become important in the future. Tlie total present 
production of the State is about 30,000 flasks. The consump- 
tion of the Pacific States and Territories is 19,000, and of the 
remainder of the continent, 11,000, so that North America 
has no need either to export or import now. 

The metal is extracted from the ore by sublimation. The 
furnaces and condensers used ditter greatly in the manner of 
construction, and also in the expense of running. 

At tlie New Almaden and New Idria mines the old style 
of furnaces are used. They are about fifty feet long, twelve 
feet high, and twelve feet wide. At one end of each furnace 
is the fire chamber, which may be nine feet cubic inside ; 
next that is the ore chamber, of about the same size ; and be- 
yond that is the condensing chamber, in which there are a 
number of partitions, alternately running up from the bottom 
and down from the top, witli a space for the fumes to pass, 
their course being up and down, and up and down again, and 
so on for a distance of thirty feet to the chimney, which is 
forty feet high. In the bottom of the condensing chamber is 
water. The wails between the fire chamber and the ore 



330 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

chamber, and between the latter and the condensing chamber, 
are built with open spaces, so that the heat, smoke, and fumes 
can pass through. The ore is placed in the ore chamber in 
such a manner as to leave many open spaces. The heat drives 
off" the sulpliur and mercury of the ore in fumes, which in 
passing through the condensing chambers deposit the mer- 
cury, and the smoke and sulphur escape through tlie chimney. 
Three days are usually allowed for drawing off" the metal 
from each charge, and then several days are allowed for the 
furnace to cool off" before the exhausted rock can be removed, 
and a new chai'ge put in, so that nearly a week is devoted to 
a charge. The rock must be made white hot before the 
quicksilver passes off" in fumes. 

The furnace patented by Knox and Osborn may be consid- 
ered the favorite, more of that than of any other kind being 
in use. It is upright in form, about twenty feet high, receives 
the ore at the top, and the heat from a hearth at the side. 
It has a capacity of twenty-five tons, and eighteen tons are 
roasted daily, implying that the ore remains four days in the 
heat. At the end of six mouths the fire is allowed to burn 
out, and the furnace is examined to see whether repairs are 
necessary. Two cords and a half of wood are reqiiii-ed daily. 
The condensers are of cast iron, seven feet long, four feet 
high, and two feet wide, the inner end being fourteen inches 
higher than the outer, to allow the soot to come down easily to 
the door. Sixteen of these are required for condensing the 
metal from eighteen tons of ore (averaging less than five per 
cent, of metal) daily. They are all connected into one contin- 
uous channel by goose-neck castings, and each with its goose- 
neck weighs 2,700 pounds. Water trickles continuously over 
all the condensers to keep them cool. By this furnace, and 
perhaps by several others, ore yielding one-half of one per 
cent, of metal, can be worked with a profit at the present 
prices. 

§ 254. Silver. — Silver ores are found at many places in 
California, but the only productive silver mines are east of the 



MINING. 331 

main divide of the Sierra Nevada. There are five silver 
mills in Alpine, four in Mono, and eight in Inyo County, but 
most of them are idle, and not one of them is producing 
much. In the production of silver by the milling process the 
ore, after it 1ms been pulverized by stamps, is stirred as a thick 
pulp in a large iron pan with water, quicksilver, and some 
chemicals for six hours, at the end of which time the pulp is 
run into a tank, mixed with much water, and allowed to settle, 
when the amalgam and quicksilver are found at the bottom. 

The cost of extraction usually ranges from $2 to $6 ; 
crushing costs from $9 to $12, amalgamation from $1.50 to 
$2.50, and other expenses may be from $2 to $10 when there 
is a good supply of ore. But allowance must be made for 
prospecting, dead work, and other contingencies which beset 
every silver mine, and the cost of which is without limit. 
Free-milling ore will not, as a general rule, pay a profit unless 
it yields $22 per ton, and few companies can make dividends 
at that figure. 

The most productive silver mines of California are those at 
Cerro Gordo, in Inyo County, where the ores are of the smelt- 
ing class, containing considerable proportions of carbonate 
and sulphuret of lead. These mines are nearly 7,000 feet 
above the sea. In some of the lodes the lead and silver ai*e 
mixed, containing sixty per cent, of the former and $60 of the 
latter to the ton ; in others, either the quantity of one or the 
other is very small, and the ores have to be mixed. The pay- 
ore yields fifteen to thirty per cent, of argentiferous lead or 
base bullion, containing from $200 to $400 per ton of silver 
and gold. The ore is smelted at the mine in furnaces, each of 
which produces from three to ten tons of bullion daily. The 
base bullion is shipped to the refining works, San Francisco, 
where it is melted at a heat so low that the silver crystal- 
lizes in the liquid lead, and can be dipped or strained out 
by the Pattinson pi'ocess. The expense of refining varies 
from $30 to $80 per ton. 



332 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

§ 255. Sulp/mr. — Sulphur is produced at tlie sulphur bank, 
on the eastern shore of Clear Lake, about eiglit miles from 
the town of Lower Lake. The mineral is found in a propor- 
tion varyinc; from ten to forty per cent, with earth. The 
crude material is shoveled up from the surface ; taken in a 
wheel-barrow to a furnace, where it is heated, and the sulphur 
passes off into an iron receiver ; thence it goes into an iron pot 
where it is purified, and is allowed to run in a fluid form into 
a wooden box, in which it solidifies. It is then ready for the 
the market. 

§ 256. J^orax. — Borax, and minerals from which borax 
can be made, are abundant in certain lakes and dry lake beds 
east of the Sierra Nevada, extending from Reno to near the 
Colorado River. The extraction of borax from these deposits 
is a new business, and has not yet been placed on a very econ- 
omical basis. The chief difficulty at present is expensive 
transportation ; but it is beset by many other drawbacks. 
The crystals of borate of lime found mixed with sulphate of 
soda, chloiide of soda, other salts and dirt, in the dry-beds of 
ponds east of the Sierra Nevada, are dissolved in hot water, 
which, after it has stood several hours, is drawn olf, leaving 
the sand and clay behind it, and then soda is added to form a 
biborate, which is crystallized after the lime has been precipi- 
tated in an insoluble condition. In some places carbonates of 
soda are found, and the production of sal-soda and caustic 
soda will become important in time. Some soda was made in 
1864 and 1865 at Borax Lake, near Clear Lake, but the busi- 
ness was interrupted by the abundant rains in 1866 and '67, 
and has not been resumed. 

§ 257. Ilydraulic Cement. — The production of hydraulic 
cement in California is confined to one mill at Benicia, but 
might, perhaps, be extended. The peculiar limestone con- 
verted into the cement by burning and grinding, is found in 
seams not more than five feet wide, in the metamorphic sand- 
stone on both sides of the Strait of Carquiuez, and the work- 



MINING. 333 

men seldom dig down more than ten feet for it. The largest 
deposit of it now known is about half a mile southward from 
tlie railroad wharf at Vallejo, and teams are constantly em- 
ployed hauling tlie rock from that point to tlie mill. The 
company pays fifty cents for tlie privilege of digging up the 
rock on land within four or five miles of its mill, and pays 
from $3 to $o per ton for rock, (according to quality) deliv- 
ered at the mill. About 1,500 barrels of the cement are 
shipped per month, and the quality is reported to be superior 
to the best imported. Considerable quantities of the rock are 
found at distances often or fifteen miles from Benicia, but not 
enough in any one spot to justify the erection of a mill. 

§ 258. Coal. — The total annual consumption of mineral 
coal in California is 500,000 tons, of which 175,000 tons come 
from Mt. Diablo, 75,000 tons from the coast north of our 
State, 5,000 from Chile, 30,000 from the Eastern States, 30,- 
000 from England, 115,000 from Australia, and 60,000 tons 
from the Rocky Mountains, The supplies from Chile-, Aus- 
tralia, England, and the Atlantic States, are irregular, depend- 
ing to a considerable extent on the freights. The production 
of the Mt, Diablo mines is increasing, having been 6,000 tons 
in 1861,50,000 in 1864, 100,000 in 1867,150,000 in 1869, 
and 175,000 in 1872, The method of mining for coal does 
not difler materially from those pursued elsewhere, except 
that our seams are smaller, and good qualities of the fuel are 
not found until a depth of several hundred feet is reached. 



334 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 



CHAPTER X. 

GEOLOGY. 

§ 259. Plutonic and Secondary. — The rocks of California 
are mainly Plutonic, upper Secondary, Tertiary, and Volcanic. 
The Plutonic, or granite, forms the bulk of the Sierra Nevada 
and part of the coast mountains. The upper Secondary occu- 
pies a belt on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada, vary- 
ing from live miles in width, about latitude 35°, to forty 
miles in latitude 39°. Its lower edge is in places within five 
hundred feet of the level of the sea ; its upper line 6,000 feet, 
but the average elevations of the two edges are probably 
1,000 and 4,000 feet. The rocks of this formation are 
mainly slates, and in them are found the seams of auriferous 
quartz and the deposits of gold-bearing gravel which first at- 
tracted a large population to California. These slates are 
found, also, in the northern coast mountains ; and in the 
Sierra Nevada a belt of limestone is associated with them. 
In the coast mountains, south of 39°, and also in spots on the 
Sierra, cretaceous rock, the highest of the secondary forma- 
tion, appears, and it is accompanied by coal and quicksilver. 

§ 260. Tertiary. — The Tertiary formation, stratified and 
metamorphic sandstones, occupy the valleys in the middle 
and southern portions of the State, the greater part of the 
coast mountains, and the lower foothills at the back of the 
Sierra Nevada. The strata on the coast mountains have been 



\ 

GEOLOGY. 335 

much disturbed, and we frequently find tliem standing nearly 
vertically. In the vicinity of San Francisco, the cuts through 
the hills show great and numerous flexures. The aqueous 
sandstone of California is generally unfit for either building or 
road making. The stratification is thin ; it abounds in frac- 
tures, does not wear well when exposed to the weather, and 
under wheels is soon converted into mud. Some of it that 
has been highly metamorphosed by heat, is excellent for build- 
ing. 

§ 2G1. Volcanic. — Volcanic rocks occupy a large space 
north of latitude 38°. In remote ages, California was the^scene 
of great volcanic activity in the northern half. No lavas or 
volcanic peaks west of the summit of the Sierra Nevada have 
been found south of the latitude of tlie Golden Gate on 37° 
48', while on the other side of that line they ai'e abundant. 
Mount Diablo has the conical shape and solitary position of a 
volcano, but its rocks are cretaceous. The numerous high 
peaks of the Californian Alps — the principal one reaching the 
greatest elevation in the United States — much as some of them 
resemble volcanic cones at a distance, fail to show any signs 
of volcanic action so far as they have been closely examined. 

Many of the lava beds of the Sierra Nevada are prominent 
features of the landscape. They filled up the channels and 
canons of the streams of the Pliocene or post-Pliocene age, 
and being harder than the slates, the latter were washed away, 
leaving those places which had been hollows standing like 
steep mountains, rising 500 or 1,000 feet above the adjacent 
country. The Tuolumne Table Mountain, 30 miles long and 
half a mile wide, and the Oroville Table Mountain, nearly as 
long, are the most remarkable examples of such geological 
changes ; but many others might be found. Ridges covered 
with beds of lava are common. 

There are immense beds of lava about Mount Shasta, and 
appearances indicate that at least 10,000 feet of the elevation 
of that peak are due to the matter ejected from its crater. 



336 RESOURCES OF CALirORNIA. 

Mount Lassen also vomited wonderful quantities of molten 
rock; and an area of nearly, if not quite, 10,000 square miles, 
including those two peaks, is covered with lava of various 
kinds, and in many places they have not been sufficiently 
decomposed on the surface to sustain a good growth of vege- 
tation. 

§ 262. Extinct Volcanoes. — The most southerly volcanic 
peak yet discovered on tlie Coast is Mount St. Helena, in 
latitude 38° 42', 4,343 feet high. Its volcanic origin is 
indubitable, although its long and flat form does not suggest 
the volcanic idea to the sj^ectator looking from a distance. 
The basaltic columns forming a projecting point at its north- 
ern end, and another, but less prominent one, near its southern 
end, and the basalt covering the ridge to the southward, must 
have come from this crater, which was once half a mile in 
diameter, but has been worn down by the eroding action of 
water, so that its original outline is scarcely traceable. The 
ridge between Sonoma and Petaluma is covered with trap ; 
that between Napa and Sonoma has an immense quantity of 
tufa and a little trap, and that east of Green Valley in Solano 
County has much tufa ; and presumj)tions indicate that all 
these may have poured out from St. Helena. The country, 
however, for fifty miles north-northwestward from St. Helena, 
is full of the evidences of great volcanic activity. Clear 
Lake, which is twenty miles long, seems to have been the 
crater of a volcano, and the Californian Geysers are solfataric 
in their character, and undoubtedly derive their heat from the 
deej) internal fires. 

§ 263. Gold-bearing Mocks. — The gold-bearing formation 
of California is a Jurassic slate, in which are found veins of 
auriferous quartz, and these occasionally extend into adjacent 
granite and limestone. The erosion or disintegration of the 
rock has set free much gold, which is now found in the placers 
or gravel beds. 

The quartz lodes vary in thickness from a line to forty feet, 



GEOLOOY. 337 

and they run in every direction ; but usually their course coin^ 
cides with that of the mountain chain in which tliey are 
found. The most remarkable vein of the State, and perhaps 
of the world — in extent, at least — is the Mother Lode of the 
Sierra Nevada. It has been traced for sixty miles, from the 
Cosumnes River to Mariposa, in a southeast direction, with a 
dip of about 45° to the northeast. The width varies greatly, 
but the average may be thirty feet. The vein stone is a white 
quartz, divided up into a multitude of seams, with gray and 
bi'own discolorations, and with small proportions of iron, cop- 
per, lead, antimony, and silver ores, besides gold, in the state 
not of ore, but of metal. The Mother Lode is not only the 
main support of a number of mining camps, but it also affects 
the face of nature ; for such prominent elevations as Penon 
Blanco, Quartz Mountain, Carson Hill, and Whisky Hill, seem 
to be due entirely to the superior hardness of the large body 
of quartz in this vein, which has defied the eroding powers, 
while the softer slates adjacent have been washed away. The 
hills stand in those places where the lode is widest and most 
compact, and the rivers have sought out the intervening points 
where the quartz was divided up into a multitude of little 
seams, as at the crossings of the Mokelumne, Stanislaus, Tuol- 
umne, and Merced Rivers, and Maxwell's Creek. 

§ 264. Placers. — Tlie placers are alluvium that contains 
gold. As the auriferous rocks were worn away, the lighter 
and smaller particles were swept down into the level valleys, 
while the larger pieces of stone and the materials of greater 
specific gravity were left near the point where they were set 
free. If a stream cut through a vein of auriferous quartz, 
containing thick seams of gold, the largest lumps of the metal 
would be near the point of intersection, the smaller lumps 
would be carried down farther, and the fine scales might be 
deposited many miles below. The smaller the pieces of gold, 
as a general rule, the smoother they ai-e, the smaller and 
smoother the sand or gravel in which they are found, and the 
22 



338 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

nearer the bottom land of the valleys. Gold is rarely found 
in loam or pure clay, but usually in the strata of gravel or 
boulders, next the bed-rock, and in the deepest depressions, as 
in the beds of streams. 

§ 265. Dead Rivers. — But those places which are now, 
were not in the Pliocene era, the beds of rivers. California 
has numerous dead rivers or channels, once used by large 
streams of water, but now lilled up with gravel ; and on ac- 
count of their auriferous wealth they have been discovered, 
traced out, and examined with an industry and care not be- 
stowed upon similar extinct streams in any other part of the 
world. Indeed, it is doubtful whether dead rivers so wonderful 
in character could be found elsewhere. Some of these channels 
are covered with mountains of basalt, among which the Tuol- 
umne Table Mountain, thirty miles long and half a mile 
wide, is the most celebrated. lu the Pliocene age, a river ran 
nearly in the course of the present Stanislaus, but it was de- 
stroyed by a lava flow, which left no place for the water, rose 
to the level of the banks, and after they were washed away 
by the water, rose up like a mountain, with a serpentine 
course, steep sides, and a bare and level top. In sinking down 
through the middle of Table Mountain, the miner passes 
through 150 feet of basalt, 100 of volcanic sand, 50 of clay 
and sand, 30 of gravel, (the lowest 10 feet being rich in gold) 
and then strikes the bed-rock of slate. When that channel 
was filled up, and became a dead river, the waters had to find 
a new course in the live Stanislaus. 

§ 266. Bead Blue Miver. — The greatest dead river of Cal- 
ifornia in length, breadth, depth and wealth, is " The Dead 
Blue River," as I call it. Some gentlemen, connected with the 
State Geological Survey, have denied the correctness of my 
assertion, that there is such a stream ; and they claim that the 
gravel deposits which I include in it, were not made in a river- 
bed : but I adhere to my opinion. A line of placer mining 
towns extends from Forest Hill, on the southern line of Placer 



GEOLOGY. 339 

County, to the northern line of Sierra, a distance of 65 miles 
in a north-northwest direction, intersected by the live streams, 
some of which run in canons 2,000 feet deep. These towns 
are situated at the points where the auriferous deposits of the 
Dead Blue River are accessible. The gravel is uniform in 
its character, and rich wherever the lower strata have been 
reached. The name was suggested by the general bluish 
color of the sand mixed with the pebbles and boulders, most 
of which are of quartz. The term " gravel " is applied to 
the material found in these dead rivers, though in it we often 
find boulders a foot, or three feet, or six feet through. The 
lower the strata, as a general rule, the larger, rougher, or less 
regular the pieces of stone. 

The abundance of quartz in the Dead River is astonishing 
and inexplicable. In the large live streams running through the 
quartz districts we find perhaps one per cent, or one-fifth of 
one per cent, of the gravel and boulders composed of quartz, 
and we know that in the rock eroded by the live streams 
running down tlie Sierra Nevada, quartz does not form one- 
twentieth of one per cent. But in the Dead Blue River, we 
find that fifty or seventy per cent of the gravel is quartz. 
And its absolute quantity is not less wonderful than the pro- 
portion. The Dead Blue River contains a hundred fold more 
quartz in its pebbles and boulders than we could get from all 
the known quartz veins of the Sierra Nevada, if we should 
dig them out through their entire length to the depth of a 
mile. 

This Pliocene river was a quarter of a mile wide on an 
average, was parallel with the Sacramento, but fifty miles 
farther east, and carried ten or twenty times as much water. 
The current ran southwards, as that of the Sacramento does. 
We know this fact from the present elevations, from the man- 
ner in which the flat bouldei'S lie pointing down stream, from 
the direction in which the branches — which, like the main 
stream, are filled with gravel — enter it, from water-worn 



340 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

pieces of driftwood, and from drift trees with the tops point- 
ing down stream. We tind such marks in live sti'eams, and 
tliey cannot be attributed in the Dead Blue, as it is sometimes 
called, to any influence save that of a strong current flowing 
southward. 

It was a stream of wonderful force, far exceeding in power 
any of its size now known. The miners find strata of bould- 
ers, many of which weigh a ton, deposited over a width of a 
quarter of a mile, and a length of sixty miles ; above that is 
another stratum of boulders, in which half a ton is a com- 
mon weight, and so on, until ten feet above the bed-rock we 
find boulders a foot through. We do not know, nor are we 
justified in supposing, that the Columbia or the Mississippi 
could distribute such boulders with such regularity. The 
entire depth of the gravel is fi-om 200 to 400 feet deep, aver- 
aging 300. 

The bed of the Dead Blue, at Forest Hill, is 2,700 feet, and 
at Little Grizzly, the most northern point to which it has been 
distinctly traced, 4,700 feet high — a descent of 2,000 feet in 
Go miles, or 37 feet in a mile. A fall of five feet in a mile 
makes a swift river ; with one foot in a mile a canal eats away 
its banks. The country in which the Dead Blue runs has 
been raised by subterranean forces, or contractions of the earth's 
crust, and the upper end may have been elevated more than 
the lower ; though the Sierra Nevada down to 36° has been 
raised more than that to the northwai'd. 

North of Sierra County, the Dead Blue River is covered 
with lava, or otherwise hidden, while south of Placer, it has 
been washed away or covered with later alluvium. 

The dead rivers are much richer in gold than the live ones. 
They were larger ; they eroded greater masses of rock, and liad 
access to larger bodies of quartz, probably auriferous. The 
streams of the present day have cut down through those 
of the Pliocene era, and are invariably much richer below 
the intersection than above. 



GEOLOGY. 341 

In the Dead Bine River most of the gravel, about 100 feet 
above the bed-rock, is in pieces as large as a goose egg, 
whereas in the Dead Brandy River, as I call it, running through 
Laporte, Brandy City, Camptonville, and North San Juan, the 
gravel is generally the size of a pigeon's egg. 

f 267. Fineness of Gold. — Gold is found iu many parts of 
the State, but the principal mines are on the western slope of 
the Sierra Nevada. Miners look for it wherever they find 
granite, slate, and quartz together. It is mixed meclianically, 
not chemically, with the rock and base metals that accompany 
it ; but is not pure, for it is alloyed naturally with silver, and 
sometimes with small proportions of copper, lead, and iron. 
Usually about 12 per cent, of the weight of gold dust as sold 
by the miners is silver, base metal, or adherent dirt ; leaving 
88 per cent, as the pure gold. Tlie variations are great, how- 
ever, and persons who buy gold dust as a business, study the 
ratio of impurity in the metal produced by the different mines. 
This ratio is expi-essed in thousandths. Tluis, we say that 
perfectly fine gold is 1 ,000 fine ; American coin of standard 
fineness is 900 fine, containing in 1,000 parts 100 of copper 
to harden it ; the gold of Downieville ranges from 895 to 925 ; 
that of North San Juan from 960 to 965 ; that of Grass 
Valley from 800 to 840 ; that of Volcano, 870 ; Murphy's, 
885 ; Mariposa, 700 to 820 ; and Kern River, 630. There are 
often great variations in value between the gold found in two 
claims separated by a distance of not more than half a mile. 

Placer gold is classified according to the size and form of 
the placer in wliich it is found. Some pieces are small, oth- 
ers large, smooth, or rough, in flat scales, round lumps, and 
shaped like wires, cucumber seed, beans, pumpkin seeds, or 
moccasins, I have washed out gold, nearly every piece of 
which bore a remarkable resemblance to cucumber seed in form 
and size. These peculiarities, however, are much less important 
now than they were formerly, when the placer mines were in 
the bloom of their production. Large nuggets of gold are 



342 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

seldom found in Calfornia of late years, but from 1849 to 
1853 it was a common event to find pieces of five or ten 
pounds. Tlie largest nugget on record was found at Ballai-at, 
Australia, in 1855, and weighed 224 pounds Troy; and in 1854, 
a piece of gold containing some quartz, and weighing 195 
pounds Troy, was found in Calavei^s County, California. 

§ 268. Silver. — Extensive dejiosits of silver ore occur east 
of the Sierra Nevada, in the basins of Owen Lake and the 
Mojave and Colorado Rivei-s ; but the only silver mines of note 
in the State are those of argentiferous galena at CeiTo Gordo. 

§ 269. Quicksilver. — Quicksilver is one of the leading met- 
als of California in industrial value, its total yield surpassing 
that of silver obtained fix)m the ai"gentiferous lead added to 
that separated from gold. Mercury occurs in its metallic form 
in some porous rocks near St. Helena, from which it can be 
shaken ovat; but the market is supplied by mines of sul})huret 
or cinnabar, the richest deposits of which are at New Alma- 
den, New Idria, Knoxville, Pope Valley, Vallejo, and various 
places in Sonoma County. Cinnabar is found at many points 
in the cretaceous rocks of the Coast Range, from Santa Bar- 
bara to Shasta. 

§ 270. — Platina. — Platina, iridium, and osmium, are three 
white metals resembling steel, often found in the placer mines 
of California. They usually occur together, and are found 
more abundantly in the lower part of the Klamath Valley than 
in any other part of the State. In many districts they are en- 
tirely lacking. Platina is found in lumps by itself; iridium 
and osmium are found united, and are then called irid-osmium. 
These metals are found in small particles, usually fine scales ; 
the largest piece was of irid-osmium, found on the Lower 
Klamath, and weighed an ounce and a quarter. They are not 
found separate from the gold, nor are they ever the main 
object of search ; they are obtained in small quantities only, 
and are rarely bought and sold in the State ; they liave no 
fixed market price. When mixed with gold dust, they in- 



GEOLOGY. 343 

jure its value, and prevent its reception at the mint on deposit. 

§ 271. Other Metals. — Copper ores are abundant in the 
Colorado desert, but are of little value there, on account of 
the high cost of reduction and transportation. Large deposits 
of copper pyrites have been found in Calaveras, Fresno, El 
Dorado, Amador, and Plumas Counties. 

Iron, in rich beds of hematite, magnetic, and other valuable 
ores, exists in Calaveras, El Dorado, Sierra, and Plumas Coun- 
ties. 

A vein of brown oxide of tin, containing 20 per cent, of 
metal, and ten feet wide, has been opened at Temascal, San 
Bernardino County ; but the extraction of it is not considered 
profitable, so nothing is done with it, or with other similar 
veins in the same county. 

§ 272. Limestone. — A remarkable belt of limestone runs 
along the side of the Sierra Nevada, from the Bower Cave in 
Mariposa County, to Oroville, a distance of 160 miles. Though 
only a few hundred feet in thickness, it happens to include a 
number of the richest placer mining camps in the State. 
Among these are Columbia, Springfield, Kincaid's Flat, 
Murphy's, Volcano, and Indian Diggings. The limestone is a 
coarse marble in general character, and where crossed by 
streams, has been gullied out by numerous channels, leaving 
pinnacles of rock with o])en spaces between them. These 
spaces were filled with auriferous gravel, and were singularly 
rich in gold. At a few points the marble is hard and suscep- 
tible of a good polish. Metamorphic limestone exists at many 
points in tlie coast mountains, the principal quai'ries being in 
Santa Cruz and Contra Costa Counties. 

§ 273. Coal. — The old red sandstone and the " true car- 
boniferous " rocks, as they are called, are wanting in Califor- 
nia, and it was long supposed that no valuable coal would ever 
be discovered in the State ; but some veins of a very good 
quality have been found near Mount Diablo. Tlie mineral 
contains far more solid combustible matter, and less iucombus- 



844 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

til)le material, tlian most tertiary coal. In the strict geologi- 
cal meauing of the terms, it is not " coal," but " lignite," be- 
longing to a later date than the true coal, and lying in a dif- 
ferent formation. The rocks are sandstone and shale, of the 
cretaceous or upper secondary age, and were formed by alter- 
nating depositions in salt and fresh water. The coal veins ai-e 
situated on the northeastern slope of Mount Diablo, are from 
two to nine feet in thickness, dip to the north at an average of 
30°, and open on the southern declivities of the hills. A 
chemical analj'sis of some of the best specimens showed 50 
per cent, of carbon, 46 per cent, of volatile bituminous sub- 
stances, and 4 per cent, of ashes. The coal is bituminous in 
character, breaks readily, shows a bright surface where frac- 
tured, and burns witli a brilliant flame. The quantity is 
large, and it can be profitably supplied in San Francisco at 
eight dollars per ton, whereas imported coal has hitherto cost 
twice as much. 

§ 274. Asphcdtum. — Bituminous springs are numerous near 
the coast, from the northern line of Monterey County to San 
Diego. They throw up a dark, pitch-like fluid, of a strong 
odor, which, on exposure to the air, grows thick, and finally 
solid. It collects in great masses about the s[)rings, and in 
some places covers several acres of ground. After being ex- 
posed to the air for some time, it is called " asphaltum," which 
is very hard in cold weather, but grows soft at about 75°, and 
becomes liquid at 85°. Some springs of it rise in the sea near 
San Diego, and others near Santa Barbara ; and masses of the 
asj)haltum are seen floating many miles from shore. The air 
at sea is even scented with it, and on several occasions frights 
on shipboard have beefi caused by its odor, which was sup- 
jiosed to come from some hidden fire. 

The principal places in which tlaese springs of asphaltum are 
found, are the following : 

1. In the Santa Cruz Mountains, in the southeastern part 
of Santa Clara County. A tract of twenty-five acres is hero 
covered by the hardened asphaltum. 



GEOLOGY. 345 

2. In San Luis Obispo Valley. The asphaltuiu covers thirty- 
acres. 

3. The Napoma ranch, in San Luis Obispo County. The 
springs are small, and yield but little. 

4. On the ranch of La Purissima, in Santa Barbara County. 

5. A place six miles west of the town of Santa Barbara. 
The deposit of asphaltum covers three hundred acres, from 
two to eight feet thick. 

6. Rincon, of San Buenaventura, Santa Barbara County. 

7. A place near the San Buenaventura River, twelve miles 
from its mouth, in Santa Barbara County. 

8. A place near the Santa Clara River, eighteen miles from 
its mouth, in Santa Barbara County. 

9. A place in the Sierra Santa Susanna, in Los Angeles 
County. 

10. In Los Angeles Valley, Los Angeles County. 

11. Tlie San Pedro Hills, in Los Angeles County. 

12. San Juan Capistrano, Los Angeles County. 

One of the deposits in Santa Barbara is so near the sea, 
that the mineral might be thrown with a shovel into a 
chute which would carry it into the hold of a vessel at anchor. 

The asphaltum generally comes up through sandstone. The 
springs of Santa Barbara seem to have ceased to flow, while 
those in Los Angeles County are still active. It is supposed 
that the amount lying on the surface at the various deposits 
is not less than five thousand tons. 

§ 275. Miscellaneous Minerals. — Sulphur occurs at the sul. 
phur bank near Clear Lake, at the Geysers, near San Buena- 
ventura, in San Diego County, thirty miles northward from 
the bay, and in Colusa County. At the sulphur bank the 
mineral is mixed with earth, sand, and soda. Sulphur springs 
abound in the Coast Range ; and in the volcanic districts 
about Clear Lake, the Geysers, Mt. Shasta, and Mt. Lassen, 
there are numerous vents for sulphurous fumes, which deposit 
their sulphur on the sides of the holes through which they rise 
to the surface. 



346 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

Gypsum is found at numerous points in the coast moun- 
tains, but not in large bodies ; and the name of the Alabaster 
Cave, in El Dorado County, indicates the material of its sides. 

Clay, valuable for stoneware and fine brick, is obtained at 
Michigan Bar, and near Antioch. 

There are alum springs at the Geysers and near Owen 
Lake, and banks of clay containing a strong taste of alum 
have been noted in Santa Clara and Calaveras Counties. 

Diamonds have been washed out from the placers at many 
jDoints on the slopes of the Sierra Nevadas ; but tliey have 
been too small and too rare to justify hunting for them as an 
exclusive or as amain occupation. The best place for them 
so far has been Cherokee, Butte County, wliere a deep stratum 
in a dead river, covered by the Oroville Table Mountain, con- 
tains them. 

Opals are abundant in a stratum near Mokelumne Hill, but 
they are of a dull lustre and worthless quality. 

Hydraulic lime, fit for cement, occurs in seams in the meta- 
morphic sandstone, north of Mt. Diablo, and there is enough 
of it about Benicia to keep a mill going. 

A bed of plumbago, or graphite, near Columbia, was 
worked in 1867, but has been abandoned as unprofitable. 

Chromic iron is exported from Del Norte and Sonoma Coun- 
ties, and an ore of manganese has been dug in considerable 
quantities in Red Rock. 

Salt springs are found in Shasta County. 

Deposits of borate of lime, carbonate of soda, and borate 
of soda, cover the dry beds of numerous ponds east of the 
Sierra Nevada ; and some of them promise to have a high com- 
mercial value for the production of borax. 

A small lake, without an outlet, east of Clear Lake, is a 
weak solution of borax. 

Steatite, or soa|>stone, valuable as a substitute for fire-brick, 
exists in extensive layers in El Dorado County, which has 
also beds of silicious eartli, or fine grit, valuable for polish- 
ing. 



GEOLOGY. 347 

§ 276. Water. — The waters of California are generally 
soft and pure, but mineral, warm, and hot springs are numer- 
ous. Large hot springs are found in large clusters in Surprise 
Valley, at the eastern base of the Sierra Nevada, at the 
Geysers, and in the vicinity of Clear Lake. They are also 
found scattered through the coast mountains, nearly every 
valley having several. Most of the hot springs are also min- 
eral, sulphur being the predominant flavor. The tempera- 
tures of certain springs are thus given : Harbin's Springs 
108° and 118° respectively, Skaggs' Springs 120° and 140°, 
White Sulphur Springs 97°, 79°, 75°, 76°, 64°, 68°, 89°, 86°, 
and 69°, San Bernardino Warm Springs 108°, 128°, 130°, 166°, 
169°, and 172°, Aguas CaHentes, (San Diego County) 58°, 
74°, 130°, 136°, and 140°, Warner's Ranch Warm Spring 135°. 

Borax Lake, in the very dry season of 1863, contained 281 
grains of anhydrous biborate of soda to the gatlon, besides as 
much carbonate of soda, and three times as much chloride of 
sodiitm. 

Clear Lake contains 11,69 grains of solid matter in a gallon 
of water, including 3.19 of carbonate of lime, 3.35 carbon- 
ate of magnesia, 0.91 carbonate of iron, 0.32 chloride of 
potassium, 0.42 chloride of sodium, 0.42 sulphate of lime, 
0.57 silica, traces of boracic and phosphoric acid, and 246 of 
organic matter. The following figures of solid grains in a 
gallon give the basis for a comparison of some of the waters 
of Pilai'citos (San Francisco) and Clear Lake with those of 
Lake Michigan at Chicago, and Croton River at New York. 

PILAHCITOS. CLEAK lAKE. CHICAGO. NEW YOKK. 

Organic Matter ... . 0.78 2.46 1.06 0.66 

Inorganic Matter . . 7.42 9.23 5.62 3.90 

Total Solids 8.20 11.69 6.68 4.56 

§ 277. Artesian Wells. — There are a great number of arte- 
sian wells in California. In Santa Clara County, within a dis- 
trict six miles wide by fifteen long, there are three hundred — 



348 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

more tlmn are to be found in any otlier district of equal size in 
the world. Their water is nearly all used to irrigate land; 
some for manufacturing purposes. They supply about two 
million gallons in twenty-four hours. The wells are from fifty 
to four hundred feet deep ; the bore vai'ies from six to nine 
inches. Only a small portion of Santa Clara Valley yields 
artesian water ; the artesian district lies north of a line com- 
mencing at Mountain View ; thence running nine miles with 
the road through the town of Santa Clara to San Jose ; and 
thence southeast to the moiuitains. South of tliis line no arte- 
sian water is found. 

It is supposed that the water comes from certain subterra- 
nean streams. One well has abundant water at one hundred 
feet ; another, not more than one liundred yard^ distant, has 
no water short of three hundred feet. The wells throw up 
living fish and' shell-fish, which are of diffei-ent species in dif- 
ferent wells. Some wells throw up soft-shell clams, good to 
eat, and of a kind not found in the superterrene waters of the 
State, before tlie opening of these artesian supplies. One well 
throws up a snail, with a long spiral shell ; another has snails 
with flat shells; and others have blind fish, evidently of a spe- 
cies that has lived long in subterrene waters, and lost its eyes 
because it had no use for them. Like the fish of the Mammoth 
Cave, in Kentucky, these artesian fish have the eye-socket and 
a blind eye in it. The wells that produce the fish and shell- 
fish are mostly shallow, not more than one hundred and fifty 
feet deep. If put into water fresh from wells two hundred 
and fifty or three hundred feet deep, they soon die, as do su- 
perterrene fish ; either, it is supposed, because the water is 
too warm, or because it has not enough air in it. The deeper 
the well, tlie warmer the water. 

Many of the wells have gone dry — " been drained by other 
wells," as people say ; but yet how can one well " drain " an- 
other, the months of both being on a level with each other ? 
The wells whose mouths are at a lower level may take water 



GEOLOGY. 349 

from those fartlier up the valley ; but the theory that the water 
deserts one well, to liow out of another of equal or higlier 
elevation, is not sound. Tiiere is very little difference of ele- 
vation, perhaps ten feet, between San Jos^ and Alviso ; and 
the wells near the latter place throw their water about five 
feet Jiigher above the surface than do those of tlie former. 
One cause of the failure of the wells may be the filling up of 
the pipes. From many of them great quantities of sand, 
gravel, and stones half a foot in diameter, liave been thrown 
up ; and if a large stone should happen to lodge crosswise in 
the pipe, the other smaller stones and gravel might soon stop it 
uj) entirely, or break the force of the current so that tlie water 
could not rise to the top. In many cases the pipe has not 
been driven down to the foundation ; and the water, whirling 
round at the bottom of the pipe, has torn away the earth and 
made an excavation, thus preparing the way for a caving in 
of the ground, and filling up of the well. 

Artesian wells have also been sunk in San Francisco, Oak- 
land, Petaluma, Stockton, Fi-esno County, San Felipe, in 
Montery County, the Colonia rancho in Ventura County, the 
Los Angeles plain, San Bernardino, Kern, and Tulare Counties. 
At San Felipe, a gaspipe with a steel point was driven down 
with a mallet, until it reached a stratum of artesian Avater, which 
now flows up in a constant stream. Some of the San Fran- 
cisco artesian wells raise their water nearly to the surface, and 
it must be pumped up for use. At San Diego an immense 
siipply of water has been reached by an artesian auger, but 
does not come quite to the surface. San Bernardino County 
has 100 artesian wells. 

§ 278. Paloiontology . — It is a general rule, that the animals 
of former geological eras, in any given district, appear to have 
been the gigantic ancestors of those of the present time. Thus, 
^ the kangaroo and emu of Australia, found in no other part of 
the world, were preceded by gigantic kangaroos and emus, 
whose fossil remains are found in New Holland only. So, too, 



350 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

South America, in antediluvian times, had gigantic sloths and 
tapirs, akin to the animals now found within her limits. Each 
continent has a fauna of its own, to which its antediluvian ani- 
mals were nearly akin. Every continent has several zoological 
districts ; and the ancient and modern fauna of these districts 
are sometimes as clearly related to each other, and as distinctly 
separate from those of other parts of the continent, as are the 
fauna of ditferent continents from each other. But the ante- 
diluvian animals of California possessed no peculiar relation- 
ship to the animals now indigenous to the State : the former 
fauna Avas totally distinct from that of the present age ; the 
fossil bones found are not numerous, and no large and valuable 
skeletons have been brought to light, but many fragments. 
None of the large saurians — those wonderful lizards, as large 
as whales of an early geological era — have yet been found here ; 
but our hills and mountains contain the bones of the mastodon, 
elephant, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, horse, camel, whale, and 
a quadruped resembling a tapir. Oyster-shells fifteen inches 
long are found near Corral Hollow, and Oyster Peak near Mt. 
Diablo is named after its fossils. Ammonites abound in 
Shasta County, some of them a foot and a half in diameter. 
The climate of California must have been tropical in the era 
of this extinct fauna ; and then our valleys were great swamps ; 
and our mountains were covered with a luxuriance of vegeta- 
tion that now belongs to the equatorial regions. 

§ 279. Post- Pliocene Man. — Many evidences that man ex- 
isted as early as the post-Pliocene era, have been found in 
California ; and Amos Bowman claims that he was here in 
Pliocene times. Near the town of Altaville, in Calaveras 
County, part of the skull of a man was found in a post-Pliocene 
formation, under four successive strata of lava, at a depth 
of 131 feet from the surface, in a miner's shaft. The first 
stratum was of black lava, forty feet deep ; then gravel, three 
feet ; light lava, thirty feet ; gravel, five feet ; light lava, fifteen 
feet; gravel, twenty -five feet ; dark-brown lava, nine feet ; and 



GEOLOGY. 351 

gravel in wliich the skull was found, nine feet. Some attempts 
have been made to discredit this discovery ; but those who 
have made the most careful investigation of the facts, and 
whose opinions are entitled to the most weight, accept it. 

Amos Bowman, of the State Geological Survey, thus defines 
certain eras in the geological history of California : 

1st. The Pliocene, or ancient eroding period, during which 
these deep ' dead " river channels were cut into the " bed- 
rock." 

2d. These Pliocene channels filling up with gravel — or the 
choking or damming period. 

3d. The active volcanic period of the Sierra, when the 
gravels were capped with lava and volcanic ashes. 

4th. The cold, or glacial period, when the mountain slopes 
were covered with living, moving glaciers. 

5th. The modern erosive, or recent period, during which 
the present river channels were formed, crossing the old chan- 
nels at various angles. 

Dr. James Blake, of San Francisco, reported to the Acad- 
emy of Sciences, in the beginning of 1873, the discovery of 
some artificial stone ornaments, in a Pliocene formation, near 
San Francisco, indicating the existence of men here in the 
Pliocene era. 

Stone mortars, pestles, and arrow-heads, have been found, 
according to report, in Pliocene gravel, at Murphy's Camp, 
Shaw's Flat, Columbia, Springfield, Tuolumne Table Mountain, 
Kincaid Flat, French Bar and Cottonwood, in Siskiyou 
County, Spanish Flat and Soapweed, in El Dorado County. 

In May, 1859, an Indian arrow-head was found, eighty feet 
below the surface of the earth, at Buckeye Hill, Nevada 
County. About the same time, another arrow-head was 
found three feet deep in undisturbed alluvium, near Freeman's 
Crossing, in the same county. 

In April, 1859, the skeleton of a man was found sixteen 
feet deep at Tehachepe, in Los Angeles County. 



352 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

In Octobei-, 1855, two stone mortars, such as were used by 
the Indians for grinding acorns and grass-seeds, were found 
near Diamond Springs, El Dorado County, at a dejjth of one 
hundred feet belowthe surface. 

In October, 1854, tlie skeletons of two men were found at 
Rattlesnake Bar, fourteen feet below the surface, and under 
ancient strata, which had apparently not been disturbed from 
the time of their deposition. 

Unfortunately, these discoveries were nearly all made by 
men ignorant of geology, and the evidence in many cases is 
not so satisfactory as it might be. 



BOTANY. 353 



CHAPTER XI. 

BOTANY. 

§ 280. Faima and Flora. — California has a botany and 
zoology of her own. Her indigenous plants and animals are 
peculiar to her soil. Her plants, her quadrupeds, her birds, 
and her fishes, are different from those of other countries. The 
Californian vulture is, next to the condor of South America, 
the largest bird that flies ; and he might easily migrate to other 
parts of the continent, but he makes his home only in this 
State, and is certainly never seen east of the Rocky Mountains. 
The grizzly bear might travel almost as well, but he is found 
only in California and Oregon. The Californian deer is difler- 
ent from that of Virginia in horns, teeth, feet, color, and size. 
The bird known as the roadrumier or paisano might fly to all 
parts of the continent, but is found only west of the Sierra 
Nevada. There is a blue-jay here, but it differs from the bird 
known to the New Englanders as the blue-jay. Tlie robin of 
New England ditters from the robin of Old England, and the 
Californian robin differs from both. The sturgeon of the San 
Francisco market are not the same with those eaten in New 
York ; and one species found in California is not found in a 
State so near as Oregon. Our trees are like, and yet are un- 
like, those of the Atlantic States and Europe. We have oak 
and pine, spruce, sycamore, and horse-chestnut trees, and yet 
they difler in many important particulars from the trees known 
23 



354 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

by those names elsewhere. California, with a little of the 
country ailjacent, is a distinct botanical district, and is more 
nearly related in vegetation to Spain than to the Mississippi 
valley. The species of trees and plants are comparatively few 
in number, and our forests and fields lack the variety observed 
in moister temperate climes. Our valleys and low hills abound 
with wild flowers, but nearly all bloom within a brief period 
instead of continuing to beautify the landscape till the end of 
summer. The forests are found only in the districts which 
have more than the average amount of rain, such as the re- 
gion near the ocean, north of 36°, and the mountains. The 
bareness of the hills is one of the striking features of the 
Californian landscape. 

Most of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys, the Col- 
orado Desert, the eastern slopes of the Coast Mountains, and 
the Coast Range south of latitude 35°, are treeless ; the Sierra 
Nevada, and the western slopes of the Coast Range north of 
35°, have fine forests; and in the foot hills of the Sierra 
Nevada, and in the coast valleys, there are beautiful open 
groves of oak-trees. The timber of the Sierra is mainly 
spruce, pine, and fir ; that of the coast north of 37°, redwood ; 
and spruce and pine south of that latitude. 

The botany of California is remarkable for containing a 
number of the largest and most beautiful coniferous trees in 
the world, growing to a height of three hundred feet, and a 
thickness of eight and ten feet in the trunk, and some of them 
still larger. Among these gigantic glories of the vegetable 
kingdom, are the mammoth tree, the redwood, the sugar-pine, 
the red fir, the yellow fir, and the arbor-vita?. Other large 
conifers contribute to the magnificence of our forests. We 
have the laurel, the madrona, the evergreen-oak, and the nut- 
pine evergreen trees, with a growth resembling that of decid- 
uous trees. Our deciduous trees are few, and of little value 
to the mechanic. 

§ 281. Big Tree.—^hQ Big Tree of California, although 



BOTANY. 355 

not taller tlian some of the trees of Australia, is the largest 
and most wonderful production of the vegetable kingdom. It 
reaches a height of 300 feet, and a diameter of 35 feet, and 
some specimens whicli liave fallen down, were probably still 
larger. Fi'om all the larger trees the tops have been broken 
olF by the snows, so that their normal height must be not 
less than 350 feet. It belongs to the Linnean genus Cu- 
pressus, whicli was afterwards divided, and the new genus 
Taxod'mm, in which the redwood belonged, was created ; but in 
1850, Endlicher, a German botanist, made another division, 
and gave to the redwood a genus called the Sequoia. In this 
the Big Tree properly belongs. The two trees bear a remark- 
able resemblance to each other in the color, the texture of the 
wood and bark, in the color, form, development, and distribu- 
tion of the foliage, and even in size, for some of the redwoods 
grow to be twenty feet in diameter, and 275 feet high. The 
specific difference of the Sequoia of the Sierra from that of the 
Coast Mountains, was discovered in 1853 by Lindley, a British 
botanist, who undertook to gratify his national vanity by 
creating a new genus, and naming the tree the Wellingtonia 
gigantea. The differences, however, were not generic in their 
character, and botanists generally repudiate his new genus, 
and call the tree the Sequoia gigantea. It is indigenous only 
on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada, between latitudes 
36° 30', and 38° 30', at elevations between 3,000 and 5,000 
feet above the sea ; north of 37° 20', it is found only in small 
and widely separated groves ; south of that line it exists in 
belts of forest five or ten miles long. The seeds have been 
sent to many remote countries, and young giant sequoias are 
found as ornaments in many gardens of Europe, as well as in 
the valleys of California. 

§ 282. Redwood. — The redwood [Sequoia se)npervire?is) is 
the second in size and the first in commercial value of all the 
trees in California, though not much superior to the sugar-pine 
in either respect. It is found in dense forests, in which many 



356 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

of the trees are five feet in diameter, 200 feet high, and 80 
feet to tlie first limbs. The wood is dai-k red in color, close 
in texture, soft, light, straight-grained, free-splitting, and dur- 
able. It is unsurpassable for railroad ties, good for the inside 
finish of houses, and tolerable for such furniture as does not 
need to be very strong. The redwood trees have been cut 
down from large areas, but the roots throw up shoots which 
soon grow again into trees ; and if carefully managed, there 
would be no decrease in the area covered by this valuable 
growth ; but under neglect, other conifers are encroaching on 
it. In some places the roots of the redwood have been dug 
up, as on the hills back of Oakland ; and as the foliage of the 
Sequoias not only shades the ground, but also condenses the 
moisture of the fogs, the land thus deprived of its protection 
has lost the moisture and the numerous springs found on it 
thirty years ago. A redwood in Santa Cruz County, known 
as Fremont's tree, is 275 feet high, and 19 feet in diameter, 6 
feet above the ground ; and many trees still larger are found 
between the Klamath and Russian Rivers. Near the road 
between Eureka and Areata, in Humboldt County, there is a 
tree that measures Gl feet in circumference of trunk. 

§ 283. Pines. — The sugar- pine {Pimis lamhertiana) is the 
most magnificent tree of all the pine kind, and indeed it has 
no superior in the vegetable creation, save the mammoth and 
the redwood, the confessed monarchs of the plant kingdom. 
It is closely related to the white pine {Pimis strobus) of the 
Eastern States ; " though," as Dr. Newberry says, " like all 
the conifers on the Pacific Coast, it exhibits a symmetry and 
perfection of figure, a healthfulness and vigor of growth, not 
attained by the trees of any other part of the world." The 
mature tree sometimes reaches a height of three hundred 
feet, and a diameter of twenty, but it rarely exceeds two hund- 
red and ten. The young trees of the sugar-pine give early 
promise of the majesty to which they subsequently attain. 
They are unmistakably young giants; even when having a 



BOTANY. 357 

trnnk a foot in diameter, their remote and regularly-wliorled 
branches, like the stem covered with a smooth, grayisli-green 
bark, showing that, although so large, the plant is still " iu 
the milk," and has only begun its life of many centuries. The 
sugar-pine conspicuously exhibits one of the most general and 
striking characteristics of the conifers — the great develop- 
ment of the trunk at the expense of the branches. Nearly 
the whole growth is thrown into the trunk, which generally 
stands without a flaw or flexure, a perpendicular cone, all its 
transverse sections accurately circular, sparsely set with 
branches, which, in their insignificance, seem like the festoons 
of ivy wreatliing about the columns of some ancient ruin. 
The leaves are three inches long, dark bluish-green in color 
and they grow in groups of Ave. The foliage is not dense. 
The cones are large, sometimes eighteen inches long by four 
thick. The wood is similar to that of the white pine — white, 
soft, homogeneous, straight-grained, clear, and free-splitting. 
It furnishes the best lumber in the State for the " inside Avork '* 
of houses, and is the chief building material used in the Sierra 
Nevada, where it grows. The tree derives its name from a 
sweet resin which exudes from the duramen or hard wood of 
the tree. This resin is sugar-like in appearance, granulation, 
and taste, and could not be distinguished from the manna of 
the drug-stores, except by a slight terebintliine flavor. The 
pine sugar is cathartic. It is found in small quantities only, 
though it is said one hundred and fifty pounds of it were col- 
lected by a man who devoted himself for a few weeks to the 
business of gathering it. 

The Western yellow pine {Phws ponderosa) is a noble tree, 
sometimes reaching a diameter of seven feet, and is next in 
size among the pines of California to the sugar-pine. Its 
leaves grow in threes at the end of the branches, giving the 
foliage a peculiarly tufted appearance. The color of the 
leaves is a dark yellowish-green. The bark is of a light yel- 
lowish-brown or cork color, and is divided into large, smooth 



358 KESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

plates from four to eiglit inches wide, and from twelve to 
twenty inches long, whereby the tree may be recognized at a 
distance. It is found in the Sierra Nevada and Coast Range, 
and is valuable for lumber, as well as for resin and turpentine, 
extracted from the pitcli which exudes when the tree is 
gashed. 

The nut-pine (PinKS sahiniana) is remarkable as a conifer 
for its spreading top, and for its lai'ge cones full of edible 
seeds. It branches out somewhat after the manner of a ma- 
ple ; rarely more than sixty feet high, though often with a 
trunk four feet through — a thickness of trunk that with most 
other conifers would give more than double the lieight. About 
half-way from the ground to the top, the trunk divides into a 
number of branches, which grow upward. The nut-pine is 
found in the lower part of the Sierra Nevada, and in the 
coast mountains, near the head of the Sacramento Yalley. 
The seeds are larger than the common white beau, and are 
very i>alatable, with a slight terebinthine taste. The leaves 
are from four to ten inches long, and grow in threes. The 
foliage of the tree, when seen from a distance, resembles that 
of the willow, both in color and distribution. In places where 
the nut-pine is found, the woodpeckers select them as store- 
houses for their winter food, cutting holes in their bark, and 
putting an acorn in each. The Indians formerly relied upon 
tlie nuts fur a considerable portion of their food. They 
climbed the tree by catching hold of the rough, strong bark 
with their hands, then putting their foot against the tree, with- 
out touching it with their body or knees, they walked up till 
they reached the limbs. 

A liquid called ei-asine, similar to turpentine in its qualities, 
is distilled from the pitch of the nut-pine. 

The Monterey pine {JPim<sinsi(/nis) is extensively cultivated 
as an ornamental tree, being hardy, quick in growth, and 
dense and handsome in form and foliage ; but it has no value 
for timber. 



BOTANY. 359 

Coulter's pine {Pinus coulterli) grows in the Santa Lucia 
Mountains. It reaches a height of one hundred feet, and has 
a trunk three feet through. Its branches are large and spread- 
ing, the leaves a foot long, and pale sea-green in color ; the 
cones seventeen inches long, seven inches through, and like a 
sugar-loaf in shape. 

The twisted pine {Plmis contorta) is found in the northern 
part of the State. The leaves are yellowish green in color, 
about two inches long, and they grow in pairs. The tree 
does not exceed sixty feet in height. 

§ 284. Firs. — The red fir, or Douglas spruce, (Abies doug- 
lasii) is a tree of very large size, growing to be three hundred 
feet high, and ten feet thick in the trunk. It is, as Dr. New- 
berry says, " one of the grandest of the group of giants which 
combine to form the forests of the West." The wood is strong, 
but course and uneven in grain ; the layers of each year's 
growth being soft on one side, and very hard on the othei*. 
The timber is much used for rough work on houses, and for 
ship-building. The tree grows in dense forests on the Sierra 
Nevada and Cascade Mountains, from 35° to 49°, and near 
the coast north of 39°. 

The yellow fir {Abies pattonii) bears a close resemblance 
to the red fir, and the two trees are usually found in company 
with each other. 

The black fir [Abies menziesii) .is smaller, and of little 
value. 

The Abies bracheata (Santa Lucia fir) grows in the Santa 
Lucia Mountains. The height is about one hundred feet, the 
shape a perfect cone, the lowest branches resting on the 
ground. The tree produces a resin used by the Catholic 
priests for incense. 

The Western balsam-fir, (Picea grayidis) or white fir, at- 
tains a height of one hundred and fifty feet, and a diameter 
of seven feet in the trunk. The bark on the trunks of the 
young trees contains numerous cysts full of the resinous fluid 
called the balsam of fir. 



360 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

§ 285. Cedar and Cypre&s. — The Western juniper, or 
cedar, {Junipems occidentalis) grows thirty feet high, and 
bears a strong resemblance to the juniper (Junij'terKS virgini- 
amis) of tlie Eastern States. The wood of a juniper-tree 
found near the quicksilver mines of New Idria, is so hard and 
fine in texture, that it would perhaps be valuable to en- 
gravers. 

The arbor-vitae, also called cedar, {Thuja gigantea) is a 
most symmetrical and graceful conifer, growing to be nearly 
three hundred feet high. 

The Californian white cedar {Libocedrus decurrens) grows 
one hundred feet high, and seven feet thick in the trunk. It 
is found from Mount Shasta to the Tejon Pass. Tlie trunk is 
usually angular. Many of the trees are afi'ected with a dry- 
rot, which destroys their value as timber. 

The fragrant cedar ( Oupressus fragrans) is found along the 
northern coast of the State. It is a large tree, and produces 
a white, clear lumber, valuable for furniture and the inside 
work of houses. The wood has a strong, lasting, and not un- 
pleasant odor, halfway between turpentine and ottar of roses. 

Lawson's cedar {Ciqyressus laxosoniana) is a tree of little 
value in the forest, but as an ornament it is highly prized. 
The foliage is dense and graceful in shape, and brighter in 
color than that of most conifers. 

The Monterey cypress ( Ciqyressus 7nac7-ocarpa) is indigen- 
ous only on Cedar Point, at Monterey, and there are not 
more than one hundred trees there ; but great numbei*s 
of them have been planted for ornament in all the larger 
towns of the State. It is hardy, and a quick grower, has a 
dense, graceful foliage, bears clipping well, and makes a fine 
appearance in all stages of its growth. The largest tree of 
the kind is six feet in diameter, and sixty feet high. The 
wood is solid and durable. One tree at Monterey has as- 
sumed a remarkable weeping appearance ; but I believe no 
others of that character have been produced from it. Another 



BOTANY. 361 

species, the Gove Cypress, [Ciipressus goveniana) growing 
near Monterey, is a liandsome, ornamental tree, and does not 
exceed ten feet in height. 

The Western yew is an upriglit tree from fifty to seventy- 
five feet high, with thin and light foliage, the leaves being 
about an inch long. Its growth is straighter, its branches 
fewer, and its foliage thinner, more feathery, and lighter in 
color, than the European yew. It gi'ows on the Sierra Nevada 
from 34° northward to British Columbia. 

Many otlier conifers are found in California, but do not re- 
quire special description here. Among them are several hem- 
locks, (Tsuf/as) and various species of pine, and fir. 

§ 286. Nutmeg. — The California nutmeg {Torreya cali- 
fornica) is a graceful and beautiful evergreen, found in the 
Coast Mountains near the Bay of San Francisco. It grows 
from fifty to seventy-five feet high, and resembles the West- 
ern yew in foliage and general form. The fruit is like a nut- 
meg in size and shape, but it has a disagreeable terebinthine 
taste, and is never used as a condiment. 

§ 287. Laurel. — The California laurel, or bay, {Oreo- 
daphne californica) is one of the most common and beautiful 
trees of the coast valleys. It is an evergreen, which grows to 
a height of fifty feet, with a trunk sometimes thirty inches in 
diameter. The leaves are dark green, kistrous, four inches 
long, one inch wide, sharp at both ends, with smooth edges. 
The foliage is dense. The wood is grayish in color, very hard, 
durable, and difficult to split, susceptible of high polish, and 
in many trees marked with a beautiful grain, so that it has 
been used for veneering and solid ornamental work. It is 
sometimes, however, occupied while growing by a boring 
beetle, which contiuues its work after the wood has been 
made into furniture, and destroys its value. The leaves have 
a strong aromatic odor, resembling that of bay rum. 

§ 288. Madrona. — The madrona {Arbutus menziesii) is 
one of the most striking trees of the Californian forest. It is 



362 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

an evevgi-ecn, with an open gvowtli, somewhat like that of a 
maple, bright-green and lustrous leaves, and a bright-red 
bark. Its height is sometimes fifty feet ; its diameter in the 
trunk two feet. The leaves are oval in shape, three inches 
long, pea-green underneath, and dark and shining above. 
The bark is smooth, and it peels off at regular seasons ; the 
new bark is a ])ea-green, which changes to a bright red. The 
wood is^ ver}' hard, and is used to some extent in tlie arts, es- 
pecially for making the wooden stirrup commonly used in the 
State. The tree bears a bi'ight-red berry in clusters, of which 
the birds are fond. 

§ 289. Manzan ita. — The manzanita, {Arclosfaphylo!^ glcmcci) 
another prominent feature in the Califurniau forest, is a dense, 
clump-like shrub, which grows as high as twelve feet, and 
nearly as broad as it is high. The trunk divides near the 
ground into several or many branches, and these terminate in 
a great multitude of twigs, so that the shrub is a dense mass 
of branches and branchlets, all of which are very crooked. 
The wood is dense, hard, and dark-red in color. Tiie bark is 
red and smooth, occasionally peeling off and exposing a new 
light-green bark, which soon turns red. The leaves are regu- 
larly oval in form, about an inch and a half long, thick and 
shining, and ]iea-green in color ; they set vertically upon their 
stems. The manzanita bears a pinkish-white blossom in clus- 
ters, and these are replaced by round red berries about half an 
inch in diameter, with a ])leasant, acidulous taste. The 
shrub grows in the coast valleys, and in the Sierra Nevada, 
up near to the limit of perpetual snow. Tiie name means 
" little apple," inanzana being the Spanish for a])ple. 

§ 290. Ools. — The Californian while oak. {Querccs lohaf.a) 
or long-acorned oak, is a very large tree, and the characteristic 
oak of California. It resembles the white oak of the Atlantic 
slope in the color of its bark and the shape of its leaves ; but 
its growth is very different. It seldom reaches a greater 
height than sixty feet, and is often wider than high, sometimes 



BOTANY. 363 

measuring one hundred and twenty-five feet from side to side. 
The trunk, which occasionally grows to be eight feet through, 
throws out large horizontal boughs within ten feet of the 
ground, and above that point the trunk is soon lost among 
the large branches. The tree furnishes no straight timber, and 
the wood is so soft and brittle as to be of no use in the arts ; 
whereas the white oak of the Mississippi Valley is a most 
valuable tree, with a trunk so tall and straight, that sills and 
beams of it sixty feet long are common, and with a wood so 
tough, that it sup})lies all the axles and })lough-beams of the 
country. The Californian white oak is not even fit for fence- 
rails. The tree, however, is very beautiful and majestic, and 
the open groves of it in the valleys and foot-hills, form, as 
Dr. Newberry says, " the most important element in those 
scenes of quiet beauty which so often excite the admiration of 
the traveler in California." The tree bears much resemblance 
in form and size to the oak of England, tlie groves of it appear- 
ing like the English parks. At the ends of the large boughs 
are branches which hang down like vines — giving the tree a 
weeping character; and one tree in Napa Valley is very 
strongly marked in that respect. The acorns are large, some- 
times two and a half inches long. They once formed the chief 
article of food of the Californian Indians. 

The fulvous oak ( Quercus fulvescens) is a deciduous tree 
that grows about thirty feet high, with leaves somewhat like 
those of the Western chinquapin. The acorn, when young, is 
concealed in the cup, the two together resembling a little 
wheel ; but the acorn, when mature, is an inch and a half 
long, and projects considerably beyond the cup. The wood is 
tougher tlian that of most of the oaks of California. 

Kellogg's oak {Quercus kellorf(/il) is a large deciduous tree, 
found only in California. Its leaves are deeply sinuate, with 
three principal lobes on each side, terminating in several acute 
points. It bears fruit only in alternate years, or at least most 
abundantly every other year. An idea prevails that the acorns 
give to swine a disease of the kidneys. 



364 RESOURCES or California. 

The liuckleberry -leafed oak {Quercus vaccinifolia) is a shrub, 
from four to six feet high, whicli grows on the mountains in 
the northern part of the State. Its leaves, in size and form, 
resemble the huckleberry ; the acorn is of the size and shape 
of a small hazle-nut. 

In the mountains north of Clear Lake a tough deciduous 
oak is found, with wood fit for staves and wagon timber, but 
it is so remote from steam transportation that it has no value 
at present. It is said that the second growth of some of the 
oaks in the Sacramento bottom is tough enough for plough 
beams. 

The evergreen oak [Quercus agrifoUa) is a low, spreading 
tree, much like an apple-tree in size and shape. The foliage, 
however, is darker and denser. The acorns are small, thin, 
and sharp-pointed. The wood is hard, crooked in grain, and 
valuable for knees in ship building. 

The Californian chestnut oak {Quercus densiflora) is a low, 
handsome, evergreen tree, with a leaf like that of the chestnut. 
The bark is extensively used in tanning. The tree is rare 
north of latitude 39°, and is most abundant in the mountains 
about Santa Cruz. 

The Western chinquapin, {Gastanea chrysophylla) or golden- 
leaved chestnut, is an evergreen shrub that grows in the Sierra 
Nevada. At the height of three feet it bears an edible and 
palatable fruit, something like the beech-nut in shape, but 
larger. The flowers and ripe fruit are often found on the same 
bush. The leaves are dark-green above, and covered with a 
yellowish powder beneath. The Western chinquapin grows 
to be a tree thirty feet high in some parts of Oregon. 

§ 291. Sycamore, etc. — The Mexican sycamore {Plataiius 
racemosa) exhibits a striking resemblance to the Western 
sycamore of the Atlantic slope. It has the same straggling, 
irregular growth ; the same smooth, white, scaly bark; the 
same large, yellowish leaf: but instead of having only one 
ball on a stem, like the Atlantic sycamore, it has several, the 



BOTANY. 365 

stem running through one or two, and terminating in the last 
one. 

The Californian wahiut is found in the coast valleys from 
St. Helena to Los Angeles, but it is not abundant anywhere. 
The tree is cultivated for ornament and for its nuts. 

It is said that there are indigenous chestnuts in Mendocino 
County. Wild cherries are found in many parts of the State ; 
wild plums in the high mountains, and crab apples in the 
northern counties. 

The Californian horse-chestnut, or buckeye, (yEscidus cali- 
fornica) is a bush, or low, spreading tree, abundant in the 
Sacramento, San Joaquin, and coast valleys. It likes to grow 
about rocky ledges, in ravines, and on the banks of streams. 
Sometimes it throws up a dozen stems, which grow to a thick- 
ness of three or four inches each ; but usually it has one 
trunk, six or eight inches through. The tree rarely exceeds 
fifteen feet in lieight, and it has a hemispherical shape, very 
dense foliage, rising from the ground in a globular form. It 
continues to put forth large clusters of fragrant blossoms from 
early spring till late summer. The leaves are among the first 
to open of the deciduous trees of the State. Five leaves grow 
together on one stem. The fruit has a close resemblance to 
that of the buckeye-tree of the Mississippi Valley, but is 
larger and more abundant. It is a staple article of food with 
those few Californian Indians who still depend upon wild 
fruits and game for tlieir subsistence. 

The mountain mahogany is an evergreen found on the 
eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada, at an elevation of 6,000 
feet above the sea. The leaves are bright and glossy, the 
growth low, the trunk crooked, the Avood red, very even in 
grain, hard, heavy, and susceptible of high polisli, and the 
yellowisli blossoms which cover tlie tree in the spring are vich 
in a vanilla-like fragrance. 

§ 292. Poiso7i Oak. — Tlie poison oak, or poison ivy, {Rhus 
toxicode7idro7i) grows abundantly in the valleys, the Coast 



366 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

Mountains, and the Sierra, and is a prominent and important 
feature of the botany of the State. One of the first lessons 
of the new-comer in California, should be to learn to distin- 
guish and avoid this useless and dangerous plant. Tlie touch 
of the leaf is poisonous, and causes a very irritating eruption 
of the skin. It rapidly communicates by the touch from one 
part of the body to another, causing severe inflammations and 
swellings. The most delicate parts of the body are most af- 
fected by the poison. The eyes are sometimes closed up en- 
tirely by the swelling round them ; and many cases are re- 
corded of faces so swollen, that they could not be recognized 
by intimate friends. Some persons are not affected by the 
touch of the Rhus ; but instances have occurred wherein persons 
supposing themselves, after long experience, to be free from 
danger, have at last been poisoned : and when the virus has 
once taken hold, the system is always very easily afiected from 
that time forward. Even passing to the leeward of the bush 
on a windy day, or going through the smoke of a fire in 
which it is burning, will bring the poison to the surface again. 
The poison oak — the leaves often resemble those of the white 
oak in shape — abounds in the grounds adapted to picnics near 
the large towns, and many persons are affected by it on such 
occasions. Many remedies are in use, but none are regarded as 
a certain cure. Among them are steam baths, lotions of ker- 
osene, manzanita leaves, leaves of the wild sunflower, {Grin- 
dellci) common salt, saleratus, salpeter, bay rum, and alcohol 
— each being used separately — poultices of bread and milk, 
the eating of the buds of the poisonous plant, and homoeo- 
pathic Mhus pills. 

The poison oak thrives best on a moist soil, and in the shade. 
In a thicket with other bushes it sends uji many thin stalks 
eight .or ten feet high, with large hixuriant leaves at the top. 
In the shade, the leaves are green ; in the open, dry groimd, 
exposed to the sun, and without supjiort from other bushes, 
the poison oak is a low, poverty-stricken little shrub, with a few 



BOTANY. 367 

red leaves. It sometimes attaclies itself to an oak-tree, be- 
comes a climber, and attains a thickness, though very rarely, 
of four inches in the trunk, with a height of forty feet. 

§ 293. Yarious Plants. — The amole, ( CMorogalum pomer- 
idimmm) or soap-plant, has an onion-like, bulbous root, which, 
when rubbed in water, makes a lather like soap, and is good 
for removing dirt. It was extensively used for washing, by 
the Indians and Spanish Californians, previous to the American 
conquest. The amole has a stalk four or five feet high, from 
which branches about eighteen inches long spring out. The 
branches are covered with buds, which open in the night, be- 
sinnino: at the root of the boug;hs, about four inches of a branch 
opening at a time. The next night, the buds of another four 
inches open, and so on. The dry bulb abounds in tough fibers, 
which are separated from the other material, and used as a 
substitute for hair in mattresses. 

The mistletoe grows abundantly on the oak-trees of Califor- 
nia. The Spanish moss, {Evernia jiihata) which hangs in long 
lace-like gray beards from the branches, also serves to give 
beauty to the groves in tlie valleys. "We have willows and 
Cottonwood, which differ little in appearance from those of the 
Mississippi Valley. There are wild grapes, blackberries, 
gooseberries, huckleberries, raspberries, salmon-berries, and 
strawberries. A truffle, or a root resembling it, is found in 
the valleys of the coast and the Sierra Nevada. The grizzly 
bear considers it a delicacy, and frequently digs it up. A 
shrub called the "joint-fir," (a species of Ephedrci) sometimes 
used for making tea, is found in Calaveras and Tuolumne 
Counties. In the valleys of the Coast Mountains is found the 
yerha huena, (Spanish for " good herb ") a creeping vine, 
bearing some resemblance in its leaf and vine to the wild 
strawberry. It has a strong perfume, half-way between pep- 
permint and camphor. The yerba de la vibora, (Spanish for 
" rattlesnake-herb," known to botanists as the Daucus 2nmllus) 
is a carrot-like vegetable, the leaves of which are said to be a 



368 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

specific for the bite of a rattlesnake. California has no indig- 
enous elms, hickory, beech, birch, persimmon, mulberry, 
sassafras, locust, catalpa, or magnolia trees. 

§ 294. Nutritious Herbage. — Of indigenous nutritious 
grasses, there are a number in the State. The wild oats, 
though not a grass, may be mentioned under this head. It 
resembles the cultivated oats so nearly that there has been 
some doubt whether they are not identical ; but the opinion 
among botanists is that they are distinct species. The wild 
oat, in the year 1835, was found only south of the Bay of 
San Francisco; but about that time, when the white men 
crossed frequently from the soutlieru to the northern side of 
the bay, the oat was sown in a natural way by horses and cat- 
tle, and it spread rapidly over the Sacramento Valley and the 
coast region. It grew very luxuriantly, and in some places 
surpassed in the height, size, and abundance of stalks, any 
field of cultivated oats which I have ever seen. It is said 
that in some localities the oat-stalks were so high that men 
sitting erect on horseback could not see each other at a dis- 
tance of ten feet. Tiie soil and climate were evidently very 
favorable to it. During the last six or eight years, the wild 
oats have been eaten down so closely by cattle, that in many 
places they have been killed out. Tiiey are propagated from 
year to year, not by the roots, but by the seeds, many of 
which fall into cracks into the earth, where they lie in safety 
until the rains come, when the ground closes up, and the grain 
si^routs. The earth cracks in the summer in many parts of 
the State ; and in places where the wild oats grow, the posi- 
tion of the cracks of one year may be traced the next season 
by the position of the stalks of the grain. 

The wild oat grows on hill and plain, and furnishes a large 
part of the wild pasture of the State. It is wholesome, nutri- 
tious, and palatable for cattle. Much of it is cut for hay. 
The amount of grain which it furnishes is small in proportion 
to the quantity of straw, and it is never threshed. 



BOTANY. 369 

After tlie wild oats, in importance to the herdsman, comes 
the " burr-clover," so named from a spherical burr, about a 
quarter of an inch in diameter, which it bears in clusters of 
three. This burr-clover is found in all the settled parts of the 
State. Cattle do not like it w'hen green ; but after it dries, 
the burrs fall upon the ground and are picked up by the cat- 
tle, while tlie stranger is astonished at seeing them eating and 
keeping fat on what appears to him to be bare earth. On ex- 
amining the surface of the ground, he will find that it is cov- 
ered with the dry stalks and burrs of the burr-clover. The 
bloom consists of three very small yellow flowers. It is said 
that the stalks of this clover take root whenever the joints 
touch the ground. 

The aliilerilla, vulgarly called " filaree," {Erodimn cicuta- 
rium) is another indigenous nutritious herb of much import- 
ance to the herdsman. It is succulent, sweet, hardy, bearing 
clusters of spikes, which are an inch and a half long, and 
have given it the name of pin-grass. The resemblance of its 
leaves to the geranium has suggested the name of " wild ger- 
anium," by which title it is also known to some persons. Its 
large root sinks deep into the ground, thus enabling it to re- 
sist the drought, while above the surface it puts forth a dense 
mass of stalks and leaves, spreading out sometimes several 
feet in every direction. Cattle prefer it to every other indig- 
enous herb of the State. The seeds seem to abound through- 
out the soil, for wherever the earth is ploughed up for the 
first time, there the alfilerilla appears, though it may never 
have been seen there before. It is common in gardens, culti- 
vated fields, and fallow lauds. 

The white Californian clover has a large yellowish -white 
bloom, from an inch to an inch and a half in diameter, a 
beautiful plant, well suited as an ornament for yards and gar- 
dens. It grows very large, and is two feet high in moist, fa- 
vorable situations ; while in dry places it will also mature its 
seed without rising more than two or three inches above the- 
24 



370 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

ground. It is very sweet, and it is often eaten by the Indians, 
who like it both raw and boiled. Cattle are also extremely 
fond of it. 

Anotlier species of clover has a round bloom, about a third 
of an inch in diameter, composed of violet-tinged flowers. 

Another clover has a bloom from a sixth to a quarter of an 
inch in diameter, the flowers of which are subdued green, 
tipped with pink at the end. 

The 3IdUotes officinalis, commonly called a clover, though 
not strictly entitled to that name, likes a very moist soil, and 
then grows luxuriantly, crowding out nearly everything else. 
Its bloom consists of a drooping head, about an inch long and 
a sixth of an inch thick, hung with little yellow flowers. 
Cattle are not fond of this herb in any shape ; but they like it 
better in hay than when green. 

Of nutntious grasses there are a number ; but they do not, 
unless where the soil is exceptionally moist, fonn a sod. The 
drought of summer and fall seems to kill the roots. 

§ 295. Floioers. — Of wild flowei-s there are a great variety 
and abundance in California, and they have their dififerent sea- 
sons for blooming ; and in canons where the soil is always 
moist, flowers may be seen in every month of the year. In 
the spring-time the hills are frequently covered ynt\\ them, 
and their red, blue, or yellow petals hide everything else. 
Each month has its flowers : In March the grass of a valley 
may be hiden under red, in Api'il under blue, and in May 
under yellow blossoms. 

Grace Greenwood, writing in May, said : " The grand Cali- 
fornia flower-show is at its heiglit. Anything more gorgeously 
beautiful than the display in meadows and wild pasture lands, 
on hill-side and river-side, it were impossible for any one but a 
mad florist to imagine. Along the railroads on either hand 
runs continuously the rich, radiant bloom. Your sight be- 
comes pained, your very brain bewildered, by watching the 
galloping rainbow. There are great fields, in which flowers 



BOTANY. 371 

of many sorts are mingled in a perfect carnival of color ; then 
come exclusive family gatherings, Avhere the blues, tlie crim- 
sons, or the purples, have it all their own way ; and every 
now and then you come upon great tracts, resplendent with 
the most royally gorgeous of all wild flowers, the yellow, or 
orange poppy, which an old Russian bear of a botanist has 
stretched on the rack of the name Eschscholtzia, but which 
long ago some poetic Spaniard, neither a flower " sharp," nor 
a flatterer of flower sharps, taking a hint from nature, as men 
were modest enough to do in his time, chi-istened El copo de 
oro [the golden cup]. Every such tract where the sumptuous 
blossoms stand thick, reminds one of the ' Field of the Cloth 
of Gold.' They are peculiarly joyous looking flowers, massed 
together, dancing and hob-nobbing, and lifting their golden 
goblets to be filled by the morning sun." 

The grass and herbage begin to grow and clothe the land- 
scape in green after the first heavy rains of the rainy season. 
These rains may come in December, January, or February ; 
and until they do come, the earth, in the districts not covered 
with timber, is brown. The grass continues green until June, 
when it begins to dry up and turn yellow and brown, which 
colors then predominate in the landscape until the rains come 
again. The death of the grass, except at high elevations, is 
caused not by the cold but by the drought ; and in those months 
when the prairies of Indiana and Illinois are covered with 
snow, the valleys of California are di-essed in the brilliant 
green of young grass. 

The azaleas of California are abundant and rich in perfume ; 
a species of calycanthus, without fragrance, is found in the 
canons, and the ceanothus, or Califoruian lilac, of which there 
are many species, is a beautiful evergreen shrub, growing 
about ten feet high, with clusters of lilac-like flowers, of 
various shades of blue, violet, and red, according to the 
species. The tree produces a multitude of little twigs, and a 
dense foliage, and may be trimmed into almost any shape. 



372 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

§ 296. Desert Verjetation. — Many vai'ieties of cactus are 
found in the southern parts of tlie State, and in the Colorado 
Desert they form a considerable portion of the vegetation. 
Tlie largest is the candelabrum cactus, which grows to a 
height of fifty feet, and frequently has from two to six branches 
about half as tliick as the trunk. These run out horizontally 
a foot or two, and then turning at a right angle, rise vertically, 
parallel with the main stem. Many of the wild cacti bear 
insii)id edible fruits, and yet are prized by the Indians and 
travelers for their abundant moisture. The dried pitahaya 
resembles a fig in taste. 

Several species of palm grow in the Colorado and Mojave 
deserts, and one bears an edible date ; but tlie tree is not com- 
mon nor tlie fruit abundant. The yucca, or bayonet-tree, 
sometimes grows to be thirty-five feet in height, with a trunk 
two ft'ct through ; but usually it is about ten feet high, with a 
trunk eight inches in diameter. It has no twigs or branches, 
but sometimes it divides into two trunks. The foliage, con- 
sisting of leaves eighteen inches long, and shaped like the 
blade of a bayonet;, liangs down from the tops of the trunks. 

The mezquit {Algarobia glandulosa) is a low tree of the 
Colorado Desert. It sometimes reaches a height of twenty 
feet, with a trunk fifteen inches in diameter. The lower 
brandies are very near the ground, and the whole tree has a 
very regular, semi-spherical form. The leaves are like those of 
the black locust, and the foliage thin. Tlie tree bears numer- 
ous pods, from three to five inches long, full of sweet, nourish- 
ing beans, about the size of the common white bean. The 
mezq nit-bean is often eaten by men, and hoi-ses and mules are 
very fond of it. 

The curly mezquit {Stromhocarpus ptibesce?is) is a similar 
shrub, and beai*s a crooked bean, called the " screw-bean." It 
also grows only on the deseit. 

The maguey, or American aloe, (Agave americana) which 
grows to the height of fifty feet, and a smaller species which 



BOTANY. 373 

rises to a height of eight feet, and is abundant in the southern 
counties, are indigenous in tlie State. 

§ 297. Swamp Vegetation. — The swamp lands of Califor- 
nia abound with reeds, or tule as they are here called. The 
round tule, {Scirptis lacustris) the principal species, has no 
leaf, but a plain, round stalk, sometimes an inch thick at the 
butt, and fifteen feet high, but usually not more than half so 
large. It will grow in places constantly covered with water 
several feet deep, forms a thick mat with its roots, and cannot 
be killed readily. 

The triangular tule grows in shallower water, or in land dry 
for portions of the year, and neat cattle get fat on it. 

The cat-tail flag grows with the tule, but in drier land than 
the others, and can be killed out with less difliculty. The 
stalks are used by coopers to put between the staves in their 
casks, and the fiber of the flower or cat-tail has been gathered 
for mattresses and pillows. 

§ 298. 3Iarine Vegetation. — The ocean near the shore 
from the Golden Gate, southward, has a great variety of algne 
or sea-weed, some of which are very beautiful in the delicacy 
of their forms and the delicate tints of their covering. These 
are extensively used for ornamental purposes. Others, like 
ihQMacrocystis pyrifera, have stems of great length, occa- 
sionally reaching two hundred yards, grow from a depth of 
forty feet, and present such a mass of foliage in the water as 
to perceptibly impede navigation. The larger species of algae 
are especially abundant oflT the coast of Santa Barbara County. 

§ 299, Al2nne Vegetation. — The vegetation on the Califor- 
nian Alps is peculiar. Both grasses and trees are abundant at 
elevations much above those in which they flourish in Switz- 
erland. There the trees reach to 6,500 feet above the sea, 
here to 11,000 feet. There, no tree lives where snow lies 
through the year; here, two species flourish 1,000 feet above 
the snow line ; and five species that reach a diameter of three 
feet in the trunk grow at places where the temperature is be- 



374 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

low the freezing point 350 nights in the year. In general 
character, the vegetation near the snow line resembles that of 
the Arctic more nearly than that of the Swiss Alps. There 
are many bodies of rich pasturage, composed of true grasses 
and of sedge grasses, at high elevations, and never yet occu- 
pied by white men. Mosses are as abundant as in Switzer- 
land. The snow plant, [Sarcodes sanguinea) is found fre- 
quently below the snow line, but looks prettiest when it 
shows its brilliant red tints amidst the white mantle from 
which it derives its name. 



ZOOLOGY. 375 



CHAPTEE Xn. 

ZOOLOGY. 

§ 300. General List. — Among the indigenous animals of 
California are the grizzly bear, the black bear, the cougar, the 
wild-cat, the gray wolf, the coyote, three foxes, the badger, 
the raccoon, the opossum, the mountain-cat, the weazel, two 
skunks, one porcupine, three squirrels, two spermophiles, two 
ground-squirrels, three rats, three j umping-rats, one jumping- 
mouse, nine mice, one mole, the elk, one deer, one antelope, 
the mountain sheei?, three hares, two rabbits, the seal, the sea- 
otter, the sea-lion, the beaver, two vultures, the golden eagle, 
the bald eagle, the fishhawk, eighteen other hawks, nine owls, 
the road-runner, twelve woodpeckers, four humming-birds, 
eleven flycatchers, one hundred and nine singers, one pigeon, 
two doves, thi-ee grouse, thi-ee quails, one sandhill crane, forty- 
one waders, sixty-six swimmers, including two swans and five 
geese, about two dozen snakes, including the rattlesnake, half 
a dozen salmon, two codfish, and one mackerel. 

§ 301. Hears. — The grizzly bear, ( Ursus hwribilis) is the 
largest and most formidable of the quadrupeds of California. 
He grows to be four feet high and seven feet long, with a 
weight, when very large and fat, of two thousand pounds, be- 
ing the largest of the carnivorous animals, and much heavier 
than the lion or tiger ever get to be, but orcfinarily does not 
exceed eight or nine hundred pounds in weiglit. In color the 
body is a light grayish-brown, dark brown about the ears and 



376 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

along the ridge of tlie back, and neariy black on the legs. 
The hair is long, coai'se, and wiry, and stiif on the top of the 
neck and between the shoulders, Tlie " grizzly," as lie is 
usually called, is more common in California than any 
other kind of bear, and was at one time exceedingly numerous 
for so large an animal ; but he offered so much meat for the 
hunters, and did so much damage to the farmei-s, t1)at he has 
been industriously hunted, and his numbers have been greatly 
reduced. He ranges throughout the State, but prefei-s to make 
his home in the chaparral or bushes, whereas the black bear 
likes the heavy timber. The grizzly is very tenacious of life, 
and he is seldom immediately killed by a single bullet. His 
thick, wiry hair, tough skin, heavy coats of fat when in good 
condition, and large bones, go far to protect his vital organs ; 
but he often seems to preserve all his strength and activity 
for an hour or more after having been shot through the lungs 
and liver witli large rifle balls. He is one of the most dan- 
gerous animals to attack. There is much probability that 
when shot he will not be killed outright. When merely 
wounded he is ferocious ; his weight and strength are so great 
that he bears down all opposition before him ; and he is very 
quick, his speed in running being nearly equal to that of the 
horse. In attacking a man, he usually rises on his hind legs, 
strikes his enemy with one of his powerful fore-paws, and then 
commences to bite him. If the man lies still, witli his face 
down, the bear will usually content himself with biting him 
for a while about the arms and legs, then go off a few steps, 
and after watching him a short time, will go away. But let 
the man move, and the bear is upon him again ; let him fight, 
and he will be in imminent danger of being torn to pieces. 
About half a dozen men, on an average, are killed yearly in 
California by grizzly bears, and as many more are cruelly 
mutilated. 

Fortunately, the grizzly bear is not disposed to attack man, 
and never makes the first assault, unless driven by hunger or 



ZOOLOGY. 377 

maternal anxiety. The dam will attack any man who comes 
neai' her cubs, and on this account it is dangerous to go in the 
early summer afoot through chaparral where bears make their 
home. Usually a grizzly will get out of the way when he sees 
or hears a man, and sometimes, but rarely, will run when 
wounded. It is said that grizzlies, in seasons of scarcity, used 
to break into the huts of the Indians and eat them. No in- 
stance of this kind, however, has been reported for some years 
past. 

The greater portion of the food of the grizzly is vegetable, 
such as grass, clover, berries, acorns, and roots. The raanza- 
nita, service, salmon, and whortleberries, are all favoi'ites with 
him. The roots which he eats are of many dilferent species, 
and it was from him that we learned the existence of a Cali- 
fornian truffle, very similar to the European tuber of the same 
name. The grizzly is very fond of fresh pork, at least after 
he knows its taste, and wliich he soon learns if swine come 
within his reach. The farmers in those districts where the 
bears are abundant, shut up their hogs every night in corrals 
or pens, surrounded by very strong and higli fences, which the 
bears frequently tear down. After having killed a hog, if 
any part of the carcass is left, the grizzly will return at night 
and feast upon the remains, until it becomes putrid. He pre- 
fers, however, the fresh pork, if it can be had. Not unfre- 
quently the grizzly discovers the carcasses of deer, elk, and 
antelope, killed by hunters, who have gone oif after horses to 
carry their game liorae. In such case, the hunter usually finds 
little left for him when he gets back. They do not like climb- 
ing, and rarely attempt to ascend trees. The grizzly, though 
he often moves about and feeds in the day, prefers the night, 
and almost invariably selects it as the time for approaching 
houses, as he often does, in search of food. The cub is one of 
the most playful, good-humored, and amusing of animals. He 
will tumble somersets, sit up on his haunches and box, and in 
some of his pranks will show a humor and intelligence 



378 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

scarcely inferior to that of very young children. The grizzly 
may easily be tamed, and its becomes very fond of its master. 
Adams, the Californian mountaineer and bear-hunter, trained 
several grizzlies so that they accompanied him in his hunting 
excursions, defended him against wild animals, and carried 
burdens for him. The meat of the young grizzly resembles 
pork in texture and taste, exceeding it in juiciness and greasi- 
ness ; but the meat of the old he-bear is extremely strong, and 
to delicate stomachs it is nauseating. 

The black bear ( JJrsus americanus) is found in the timbered 
portions of California, but is not abundant anywhere, and is 
more frequently seen near the coast north of Bodega than in 
any other portion of the State. Dr. N'ewberr}^ speaking of 
the food of the black bear on this Coast, says : " The subsis- 
tence of the black bears in the northern portion of California 
is evidently, for the most part, vegetable. The manzanita, 
wild plum, and wild cherry, which fruit grow profusely, and 
are very low, assist in making up his bill of fare. Rarely, too, 
we saw trees of yellow-pine bearing marks of bears' teeth, 
where they had torn oft* the outer bark to get at the succulent 
inner layer, which is capable of sustaining life, and to which 
the Indians very generally have recourse when pressed with 
hunger." It is believed that neither the grizzly nor the black 
bear hybernates in California. 

§ 302. Felines. — The cougar panther of California, sup- 
posed by Dr. Newberry to be the Felis concolor — the same 
with the panther found on the Atlantic slope of the continent 
— has a body larger than that of the common sheep, and a tail 
more than half the length of the body. Its color is dirty- 
white on the belly, and elsewhere a brownish-yellow, mottled 
with dark tips on all the hairs. The panther is a cowardly 
animal, and, except when driven by some extraordinary 
motive, never attacks man. A friend of mine, who was out 
hunting, dressed in a buft' coat, was creeping through some 
brush to get near a deer, when he felt a heavy animal strike 



ZOOLOGY. 379 

Ms back. He sprang up very suddenly, and saw a panther 
which had jumped down upon him from a tree, probably mis- 
taking him for a calf or a deer. The brute seemed very 
much astonished and frightened at seeing a man there, and 
immediately lied at full speed. The panther is nocturnal in 
his habits, and always prefers tlie night as a time for attacking 
colts, which ai-e a favorite prey with him. He is found in all 
parts of the State where there is timber, but he never stops 
long in any place, unless he can find bushes to hide in. 

The American wild-cat {Lynx rufus) is common in Califor- 
nia, pai'ticularly in the vicinity of the bays of San Francisco 
and San Pablo, where he often catches fish and water-fowl, as 
well as land-animals. His color is a light brown, with dim, 
dark spots on the sides, and longitudinal lines along the mid- 
dle of the back. 

§ 303. Canines. — The coyote is very common in the State, 
and occupies the same place here with that occupied in the 
Mississippi Valley by the prairie-wolf Dr. Newberry thinks 
the two belong to the same species, {Canis latrans) but I am 
inclined to believe that they are specifically ditterent. The 
color of the coyote has more of a reddish tinge, he howls 
more, does not bark so much, and is more cunning. His food 
consists chiefly of rabbits, grouse, small birds, mice, lizards, 
and frogs ; and in time of scarcity he will eat carrion, grass- 
hoppers, and bugs. He is very fond of poultry, pigs, and 
lambs, and will destroy almost as many of them as would a 
fox. He is one of the worst enemies and most troublesome 
pests of the farmer. His method of catching chickens is to 
hide near the hen-roost about daylight, and, as the hens come 
down, he pounces upon them from his hiding-place ; and his 
motions are often so quick, that the victim has not even time 
to squall before she dies. In the spring and autumn, when 
wild geese and ducks are abundant, many coyotes make their 
homes in the tules, where they catch birds wounded by the 
hunters. 



380 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

The coyote loves nothing better than a young pig. When 
he sees an old sow with her young ones, he will hide, and wait 
a long time, in hopes that a little one will come within his 
reach ; but if there be no hiding-place, he goes up boldly. The 
sow will at once face the assailant, and start to attack him. 
He allows her to come up within a few feet of him, and then 
moves off slowly ; and she, like a fool, thinking she will catch 
him, continues the chase. Wliile running, he keeps liis head 
turned to one side, partly to watch her, and partly to watch 
the pigs ; and when he has seduced her far enougli away, he 
suddenly makes a dash at the pigs, and, getting one of them, 
runs off witli it, leaving the agonized and furious sow far be- 
hind. If the coyote does not succeed in getting a pig at the 
first attempt — that is, if he does not lead the sow far enough 
away — he tries it again and again, till he succeeds, the sow 
being so stupid as to follow him, after having repeated 023por- 
tunities to see his purpose. 

The coyotes frequently go in packs, and sometimes "will 
attack a cow. On such occasions, tliey have a concerted plan 
of operations : they surround their intended victim, and while 
those in front rush at her as a feint, those behind attempt to 
cut her hamstrings ; and when they are once cut, she falls 
completely at their mercy ; and they quickly pick her bones. 

The coyote is a great thief, and will steal the pillow from 
under a sleeping man's head ; for it happens in California that 
bags of provisions are often used as pillows. When hungry, 
he will gnaw anything that is greasy, and frequently cuts off 
the hemp and rawhide ropes with which horses are tied out at 
night ; but he never bites into hair ropes, which for tliat rea- 
son were formerly used exclusively for staking out horses. 

The coyote is nocturnal in his habits, and is very fond of 
bowling or yelping. He begins with a slirill, quick bark, and 
follows it with a succession of yelps, ending in a long-drawn, 
quavering, melancholy howl. When one begins, all others 
within hearing take up the cry. Twenty years ago, the trav- 



ZOOLOGY. 381 

eler in the Sacramento Valley rarely passed a night without 
hearing their music. They are not so numerous now, but still 
they are frequently seen in the most densely-settled parts of 
the country. 

The gray wolf {Canis occidentalis) was once found in all 
parts of California, but has become very rare in the more 
densely-settled districts. 

The red fox ( Vidpes fulvus) is found north of latitude 
37° ; the gray fox ( Viilj)es vin/inicoius) in all the timbered 
parts of the State. The coast fox ( Vulpes Uttoralis) is 
found only on the island of San Miguel, otF the coast of Santa 
Barbara. In its color it bears a great resemblance to the gray 
fox, but it is not more than half as large, is less cunning, and 
is slower in its motions. Its tail is only one-third the length 
of its body. The specimens observed were very bold and 
stuj^id, allowing themselves to be caught over and over again 
in the same manner. 

The desert fox, ( Vul2)es macrourus) which is fonnd in the 
central deserts of*the continent, crosses the Sierra Nevada, 
and is often killed in Calaveras and Tuolumne Counties. 

§ 304. Badger, etc. — The American badger {Taxidea 
americana) is abundant on the plateau of the Sierra Nevada, 
and is occasionally found in other parts of the State. It is 
very shy, and is rarely seen by the traveler. 

The black-footed raccoon {Procyon hemandezii) is found in 
the timbered portions of the Pacific slope of our continent 
from Santa Barbara to British Columbia. It is longer than 
the Atlantic raccoon, {Procyon lotor) but it resembles it very 
closely in its mental character and capacity, habits and ap- 
pearance. The raccoon is fond of grapes, and when he enters 
a vineyard selects those of the finest flavor. 

An opossum {Didelphys calif ornica) is found in the wooded 
portions of the State, but is not abundant. 

The yellow-haired porcupine (JErethizon epLcanthus) a native 
of California, is the largest of its genus. The spines are a 



382 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

couple of inches long, yellowish in color, with brown tips. On 
the lower part of the sides the spines are replaced by long, 
stiff bristles. 

The mountain cat, or striped bassaris (Hassaris astuta) is 
abundant along the western base of the Sierra Nevada, be- 
tween latitudes 36° and 39°. The body is about the size of 
that of the domestic cat, but the nose is very long and sharp, 
and the tail very long and large. The color of the animal is 
dark gray, with rings of black on the tail. The minei's call 
it the " mountain cat," and frequently tame it. It is a favor- 
ite pet with them, becomes very playful and familiar, and is 
far more affectionate than the common cat, which it might re- 
place, for it is very good at catching mice. 

The pine-marten [Mustela Americana) is found in Califor- 
nia, but is rare. 

The yellow-cheeked weazel (Putorius xmithogenys) is found 
along the coast, in the vicinity of the Bay of San Francisco. 

The common mink [Putorius iiison) has a skin as valuable 
as that of the beaver ; the fur is of a dark, brownish chestnut 
color, with a white spot on the end of the chin. 

California has two skunks, [Mejihitis occidentalis and 3Ie- 
phitis bicolor) very common animals. The Mephitis bicolor^ 
or little striped skunk, is chiefly found south of latitude 39° ; 
the other in the northern and central parts of the State. The 
colors of both are black and white. 

§ 305. Squirrels. — Tlie Californian gray squirrel, {Sciurus 
fossor) the most beautiful and one of the largest of the squirrel 
genus, inhabits all the pine forests of the State. Its color on 
the back is a finely-grizzled bluisli gray, and white beneath. 
At the base of the ear is a little woolly tuft, of a chestnut color. 
The sides of the feet are covered witli hair in the winter, but are 
bare in the summer ; the body is more slender and delicate in 
shape than that of the Atlantic gray squirrel. It sometimes 
grows to be twelve inches long in tlie head and body, and fifteen 
inches long in the tail, making the entire length twenty-seven 



ZOOLOGY. 383 

inches. Dr. Newberry says : " The Californian gray squirrel 
is eminently a tree-squirrel, scarcely descending to the ground 
but for food and water, and it subsists almost exclusively on 
the seeds of the largest and loftiest pine known, {Pinus lam- 
hertlana) the ' sugar-pine ' of the Western coast. The cones of 
this magnificent tree ai'C from twelve to sixteen inches in 
length, and contain each one hundred or more seeds of the 
size and shape of the small wliite bean of commerce. These 
cones would be unmanageable by the squirrel in the tree, 
and he has the habit, so common in the family, of dropjiing 
them to tlie ground, where he can dissect them at leisure. This 
he usually does early in the morning, climbing to the extremi- 
ties of the topmost branches, where the cones hang, and cut- 
ting off a sufficient number to supply his wants for the day. 
He then descends, and, commencing at the base of the cone, 
tears off the scales in rapid succession, and skilfully possesses 
himself of the seeds which they conceal. He is compelled, 
however, to supply other wants than his own, for the smaller 
pine-squirrel {Sciurus douglasii) and the ground-squirrel 
( Tamlas toionsendii) appropriate a large share of his booty. 
When oak-trees are near, and acorns are ripe, he has recourse 
to them for subsistence ; as often as opportunity offers, robbing 
the woodpeckers of their stores, in which also he has the active 
cooperation of his more diminutive congeners. From the fact 
that he feeds upon the ground, it has been supposed that he was 
less active, and less fitted for climbing, than most tree-squirrels. 
Tliis, I think, is not true. He is exceedingly quick and grace- 
ful in his movements ; and if less frequently seen to spring 
from tree to tree than the black and gray squirrels of eastern 
States, it is because he inhabits coniferous trees, whicli are re- 
markable for the insignificance of their branches compared 
with the size of the trunk, the limbs never stretching out and 
interlocking, as those of the oak and maple and other trees, in 
which our common species live." 
The Californian pine-squirrel (/Sciurus douglasii) inhabits the 



384 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

pine and redwood forests of the State. He is gray above and 
red beneath, witli a black stripe separating the two colors. He 
lives in a burrow or hollow log, but climbs well, and obtains 
his food chiefly from the pine-cones, which he cuts off in num- 
bers at a time, and tears to pieces at his leisure, after they 
have fallen to the ground. He lays up a store of the seed in 
his burrow, for his winter supply. He is quick in his motions, 
graceful in his attitudes, and shy in his habits. 

The Missouri striped ground-squirrel has live dark-brown 
stripes on the back, separated by four gi'ay stripes ; the sides 
are reddish-brown, the belly grayish-white, and tlie tail rusty- 
black above and ru>;ty-brown beneath. The animal is four or 
five inches long. It is found in the northern parts of the State. 
It eats acorns and the seeds of the pine, manzanita, and ceano- 
thus, in the thickets of which last-named brush it prefers to 
hide its stores. 

Report says a flying squirrel has been found in Mendocino 
County, but I believe it has never been described. 

§ 306. SpermophUes. — The spermophile has two species in 
California, which resemble each other so closely, that they 
are usually supposed to be the same ; they are popularly 
known as the Californian ground-squirrels, the little pests 
which are so destructive to the grain crops. Their bodies are 
ten or eleven inches long in the largest specimens ; the tail is 
eight inches long and bushy ; the ears large ; the cheeks 
pouched, and herein consists the chief diflerence between 
them and S(|uirrels ; the color above, black, yellowish-brown, 
and brown, in distinct mottlings, hoary-yellowish on the sides 
of the head and neck, and pale yellowish-brown on the under 
side of the body and legs. They dwell in burrows, and usu- 
ally live in communities in the open, fertile valleys, prefer- 
ring to make their burrows under the shade of an oak-tree. 
Sometimes, however, single spermophiles will be found living 
in a solitary manner, remote from their fellows. Their bur- 
I'ows, like those of the prairie-dog, are often used by the rat- 



ZOOLOGY, 385 

tlesnake and the little owl. Dr. Newberry says : " They are 
very timid, starting at every uoise^ and at every intrusion into 
their privacy, dropping from the trees, or hurrying in from 
their wanderings, and scudding to their holes with all possi- 
ble celerity ; arriving at the entrance, however, they stop to 
reconnoitre, standing erect, as squirrels rarely and spermo- 
philes habitually do, and looking about to satisfy them- 
selves of the nature and designs of the intruder. Should 
this second view justify their flight, or a motion or a step for- 
ward still further alarm them, with a jieculiar movement, 
like that of a diving duck, they plunge into their burrows, 
not to venture out till all cause of fear is past. Should you 
in the meantime have seated yourself with your back against 
a tree, and have remained for a time as immovable as the 
ti'unk against which you lean, you will see sundry little heads 
protruding from the burrows, with as many pairs of e3res and 
ears skilled to detect the least sign of danger from their 
equally-feared enemies, the coyote, the Califoruian vulture, 
the red-shouldered and red-tailed hawk, and man himself. If, 
however, your silence and quietness persuade them that you 
are none of these, they will swarm forth from their holes, and 
at first timidly, but, gaining confidence, more fearlessly, en- 
gage in all the sports and antics for which the sciuridoe are 
noted, and in which none excel the species under considera- 
tion. It is a pretty sight, and one to which I have often 
treated myself, to sit down quietly under these old oaks, and 
watch the squirrels running about over the grass and trees, 
gambolling and ])laying together. As far as the eye could 
reach through the vista, the sprightly movements of these in- 
nocent animals could be discerned." 

Tlie two species are called Beechey's spermophile {Spermo- 
philus heecheyi) and Douglas's spermophile {/Spermop/dlus 
douglasii). TIae size, habits, and general appearance of the 
two species are the same, but they ditfer in the color of a stripe 
along the spine from the base of the head to the middle of the 
25 



386 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

back ; in Beechey's spermopLile it is yellowish-hoary, in Doug- 
las's it is dark-brown. The former species is found very abun- 
dantly south of the Straits of Carquinez; the latter iiortli of 
it, and fewer in number. 

Beechey's spermophiles are among the most formidable ene- 
mies of the farmer in those districts where they make their 
homes. They increase very i-apidly in the vicinity of farms, 
and do great damage in grain-fields and gardens ; they eat 
grain and garden vegetables in all stages of their growth ; 
they peel young fruit-ti-ees and vines; they are, in short, dan- 
gerous to nearly everythmg that is cultivated. They are very 
industrious, and lay up large stores for the winter, spending 
several hours every pleasant summei"'s day in gathering food. 
They go considerable distances to fields ; and the traveler, 
whose ajiproach scares them, sees them in hundreds running 
across the road before him, with their tails erect, hurrying 
from the field to hide themselves in their burrows. Many a 
large wheat-field, which would have yielded forty bushels to 
the acre if there had been no spermophiles to trouble it, is so 
despoiled by them, that the crop will not pay for harvesting. 
They are particularly abundant in the Santa Clara, Amador, 
and Pajaro Valleys ; and their number is an important con- 
sideration in the estimate of the price of land. They will not 
live in moist land, nor very near the ocean, where the fogs 
prevail. Away from cultivated fields, they depend for food 
chiefly upon grass-seeds, grass-roots, and acorns. 

§ 307. Gopher. — The Californian gopher {Thomomys bul- 
bivorus) is, next to Beechey's spermophile, the most abundant 
and most troublesome rodent of the State. When full grown, 
it has a body six or eight inches long, with a tail of two 
inches. The back and sides are of a chestnut-brown color, 
paler on the under parts of the body and legs ; the tail and 
feet are grayish-white ; the ears are very short. In the cheeks 
are large pouches, covered with fur inside, white to their mar- 
gin, which is dark brown. 



ZOOLOGY. 387 

The gopher inhabits the fertile valleys of the coast, from 
latitude 34° to 39°. He spends nearly all his time under 
ground, and does most of liis mischief tliere, gnawing oif 
the roots of fruit trees and garden vegetables, eating newly- 
sown grain and seeds, and nibbling at flowers and sweet buds. 

The Colorado gopher {Thomomys fulvus) is found in that 
portion of the State south of latitude 34°, but is not abundant. 
It is smaller than the Californian gopher, and has more of a 
reddish tinge in its colors. Its habits and appearance other- 
wise are very similar to those of its northern congener. 

The broad-headed gopher, {Thomomys laticeps) found in 
the vicinity of Humboldt Bay, is about five inches long. Its 
color on the back, sides, and belly, is yellowish-brown, with a 
reddish tinge between the fore legs. 

§ 308. The Mats. — California has a number of indigenous 
kangaroo-rats or jumping-rats, jumping-mice, and other rats 
and mice, too many and not sufliciently singular, or interest- 
ing to the general reader, to deserve a complete description 
here. Among these, Philip's jerboa, in the Sacramento Basin 
and the Southern Valleys, the Don jerboa, in the Coast Val- 
leys, south of San Francisco, each twelve inches long, from 
the nose to the end of the tail, are the largest of the jumping- 
rats. They will leap four or five times their length at every 
jump. 

The Oregon mole (Scalops toionsenclii) is found near the bay 
of San Francisco, and perhaps in other parts of the State. It 
is six or seven inches long, nearly black in color, with faint- 
purplish or sooty-black reflections in the hair. 

§ 309. Deer. — The American elk ( Gervus canadensis) is 
found in California, as well as in many other parts of the con- 
tinent. The animal is nearly as large as a horse, and has 
some resemblance to it in general shape, though smaller, and 
slimmer in the head, neck, and legs. Its length from the nose 
to the tail is seven feet ; its height five feet ; its greatest weight 
one thousand pounds. The color is a chesnut brown, dark on 



388 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

the head, neck, and legs, lighter and yellowish on the back 
and sides. The horns are veiy large, sometimes more than 
four feet long, three feet across from tip to tip, measuring 
three inches in diameter above the burr, and weighing, with 
the skull, exclusive of the lower jaw, forty pounds. The 
horns of the old bucks have from seven to nine, perhaps more, 
prongs, all gi'owing forward, the main stem running upward 
and backward. The elk were veiy abundant in California 
previous to 1849, and tliey were frequently seen in large 
herds ; but within the last ten yeai-s they have become rare, 
and before the close of another decade they will be extinct in 
our State. A few were found in the San Joaquin Valley, but 
the best place for hunting them is in Mendocino County. 
Several score of carcasses find their way every year to the 
San Francisco market. Tlie young fat elk furnishes a very 
juicy and sweet vension. 

The white-tailed Vii-ginian deer, once common in the States 
east of the Mississippi, is not found in California, but in its 
place we have the black-tailed deer, (Cervus columhianus) 
which is a little larger and has brighter coloi-s, but does not 
furnish as good veusion, the meat lacking the juiciness and 
savory taste of the venison in the Mississippi Valley. The 
average weight of the buck is about one hundred an<l twenty 
pounds, and of the doe one hundred pounds, but bucks have 
been found to weigh two hundred and seventy-five pounds. 
Tiie summer-coat of the black-tailed deer is composed of 
rather long and coai"se hair, of a tawny bi-own, approaching 
chestnut on the back. In September this hair begins to come 
off, exposing Avhat the hunters call the " blue coat," which is 
at first fine and silky, and of a bluish-gray color, afterward 
becoming chestnut Ifi-own, inclining to gray on the sides, and 
to black along the back. Occasionally, deer purely white are 
found. The horn, when at it greatest length, is about two feet 
long, and forks near mid-length, and each prong forks again, 
making four points, to which a little spur, issuing from near 



ZOOLOGY. 389 

the base of the horn, may be added, making five in all. This 
is the general form of the horn ; sometimes, however, old bucks 
have but two points. 

The deer likes the hills and the timber ; the prong-horned 
antelope [Antilompra americana) loves the valley and the 
open land. Before the Americans took California, the Saci'a- 
mento and San Joaquin Valleys abounded with herds of an- 
telope ; but now they are rare in the northern part of the 
State, and not abundant in the southern part. Many are 
killed yearly for the market. In size tlie antelope is not quite 
60 large as the Californian deer, which it resembles closely in 
form and general appearance. They are distinguished at a 
distance by their motion : the antelope canters, while the deer 
runs ; the antelope go in herds, and move in a line following 
the lead of an old buck, like sheep, to which they are related ; 
while deer more frequently are alone, and if in a herd they 
are more indefjendent, and move each in the way that suits 
him best. In color, the back, upper part of the sides and out- 
side of the thighs and forelegs, are yellowish brown ; the under 
parts, lower part of the sides, and the buttocks as seen from 
behind, are white. Tlie hair is very coarse, thick, spongy, 
tubular, slightly crimped, or waved, and like short lengths of 
coarse threads cut off bluntly. The horns are very irregular 
in size and form, but usually they are about eight inches long, 
rise almost perpendicularly, have a short, blunt prong in front, 
several inches from the base, and make a short backward 
crook at the top. The female has horns as well as the male. 
The hoof is heart-shaped, and its print upon the ground may 
be readily distinguished from the long, narrow track of the 
deer. The antelope is about two feet and a half high, and 
four feet long from the nose to the end of the tail. 

The mountain sheep {Ovis montana) is found on the Sierra 
Nevada, from the Tejon Pass to the Oregon line, but is a 
rare and very shy animal, and is seldom killed. Its length is 
about live feet, and its weight sometimes three hundred and 



390 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

fifty pounds, considerably greater than that of tlie deer or do- 
mesticated sheep. The color is white beneath, grayish brown 
elsewhere. The horns of the i-am are very large, sometimes 
five inches througli at the base and three feet long. The 
horns, after starting upward, turn backward, then downwai-d, 
and so roiind with a circular or spiral shaj^e, the tip inclining 
outward. Mountaineei"S assert that these horns are xxsed by 
the sheep in getting down from the high cliffs which he is 
fond of frequenting. Instead of clambering down toilsomely 
over the rugged and broken rocks, he makes an easy job of it 
by leaping headlong, confidently down, over precipices fifty, 
yes, one hundred feet high, and alights head fii'^t on his horns, 
which are strong enough to be unbroken by the shock, and 
elastic enough to throw him ten or fifteen feet into the air — 
and the next time he alights on his feet all right. 

§ 310. Hare. — The Californian hare, or "jackass rabbit,'* 
as it is commonly called, {Lepus califomicus) is one of the 
largest of its class, growing sometimes to be two feet long 
from the nose to the end of the tail. Its eai-s are very lai"ge, 
and have suggested the vulgar name. It was once abundant 
in all the valleys from the Klamath to the Colorado ; it is more 
rare now. The color beneath is a pale cinnamon ; above it is 
mixed black and light cinnamon, the longest haii*s being of a 
light smoky-ash color for about half the length, then dark 
BOoty-brown, then pale cinnamon-red, and finally black at the 
tip. 

The prairie hare {Leptis eamj'>est'nis) also, one of the largest 
hares, inhabits the plateau of the Sierra Nevada, Pit River 
Valley, and the country about the Klamath lakes. It is all 
white in winter ; in summer yellowish gray, with brownish 
tinges above and white beneath. The length, frem the tip of 
the nose to the root of the tail, is from seventeen to twenty- 
three inches ; and the tail and ear each measure about four 
inches. 



ZOOLOGY. ^ 391 

Audubon's have (Lejms aitdabonii) inhabits the coast val- 
leys from Petaluma to San Diego. It is fifteen inches long, 
witli a tail measuring to the end of the hairs on it three 
inches. The color is mixed yellowish-brown and black above, 
white beneath, thighs and rump grayish. 

Trowbridge's hare (Lepus troiohridgii) is found along the 
coast southward from 39°. The length is from eleven to fif- 
teen inches ; the tail, with hair and all, less than an inch. 
Tlie back is yellowish brown mixed with dark brown, paler on 
the sides, and ash-coloi-ed beneath. 

The sage rabbit (Zep^f.9 artemisia) is found in all the open 
parts of California north of the Straits of Carquinez. It is 
from eleven to sixteen inches in length; in color, brown above 
and white beneath, with a yellowish tinge, the under part of 
the neck a yellowish brown. The fur on all parts of the body 
is lead-colored at the base. 

§ 311. Sea-Lions. — The sea-lions, of the Otori'a genus, fre- 
quent the coast from May to November, making their homes 
during the winter in some other clime, but where is not 
known. They delight to collect on clear summer days on rocks 
near the water's edge, and bask in the sun. They may be 
seen nearly every day on the rocks near the Golden Gate, and 
heard, too, for they keep up a kind of barking or growling in 
chorus, which grows louder as tliey see any one approaching. 
They do not wait, however, to let a man come very near, but 
pitch olf into the sea before he is within fifty yards of them. 
Their color varies from light yellowish-brown to dark brown 
and dark iron-gray. They have no mane like that of their 
relatives in higher latitudes. Fish and birds are their diet, 
and both are caught with great activity and some stratagem. 
"When a sea-lion sees a gull swimming, he will dive and try 
to come up under the bird, wliich he at once seizes ; or if the 
bird is hovering over the water, the sea-lion will dive, and 
come up near the place, but keep under the water, the sur- 
face of which lie breaks, as if a fish were there, and when 



392 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

the gull comes down to make a catch lie is liimself caught. 
The sea-hon grows to be nine feet long. 

Sea elephants are found occasionally on the coast of Cali- 
fornia, and on a few islands, and not elsewhere north of the 
equator. Tiiey are killed for their oil, each full-grown animal 
yielding from 90 to 180 gallons. They shed their coat every 
year, and then suddenly change their color from a yellowish 
brown to a dark gray, which continues for four or five months, 
and then alters gradually. The animal sometimes reaches a 
length of eighteen feet. 

§ 312. Otter, etc. — The American beavers {Castor canaden- 
ds) were once very abundant in all the large streams of Cali- 
fornia, and it was chiefly fortheir sakesthat the first American 
trappers entered the country, about 1827. They are still found 
in the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers. They rarely 
build dams in California, but live in burrows in the banks. 
When they dive they slap the water with their tails, making 
a noise that can be heard at a considerable distance on a still 
night. Their skins, which once commanded very high pi-ices, 
have lost much of their value since the adoption of silk for 
making hats. 

The common mink [Patorius vison) is found in California, 
but is not abundant. The general color of the animal is 
dark bi'ownish-chestnut, with a white spot on the end of the 
chin. The skin .of the mink is as valuable as that of the 
beaver. 

The Californian otter {Lutra ealiforyiica) is found all along 
this coast, and was formerly abundant on all the large streams. 
It is carnivorous, living entirely on fish and shell -fish. It pre- 
fers large streams and lakes for its home, while the plant-eat- 
ing beaver prefers small streams. The Californian otter is 
sometimes five feet long from the point of the nose to the tip 
of the tail. When in the water, its hair is at times beautiful- 
ly iridescent. 

The sea-otter (^Enhydra nyirina) is larger than the Califoi'- 



ZOOLOGY. 393 

nian otter, and is also caniivorous. It generally makes its 
home near islands, and roams about in the water within ten 
or twenty miles of land. The sea-otter was at one time very 
abundant along the coast of California, and it was one of the 
attractions wliich induced the Russian Fur Company to estab- 
lish a post at Fort Ross, in latitude 38° 30' , where a number 
of Aleutian Indians were employed, from 1812 to 1840, in the 
otter fishery. They would start out in their little single ca- 
noes, made water-proof with a covering of fisli-bladders, so 
that there was no danger of their sinking if tlie sea should 
sweep over them, and thus they would go out fifty miles to 
sea, and travel up and down the coast, usually coming home 
well-laden with sea-otter skins, worth sixty or eighty dollars 
each. The sea-otter is still abundant on the southern coast, 
and there are men in Santa Barbara County who make it a 
business to hunt them. 

" The otter," says Mi'. W. A. Wallace, " is very harmless, 
and always seeks to escape from human observation. When 
attacked they make no resistance, but endeavor to escape by 
sinking in the sea. If closely pursued and there is no escape, 
they scold and grin like an angry cat. If they escape the ene- 
my, as soon as they are safe, they turn and deride him with 
varioiis diverting tricks, such as standing on end in the water, 
jumping over the waves, holding the j)aws over the eyes, as 
if to shade them from the sun while looking at the enemy — 
then lying flat upon the back and stroking the belly. In tlieir 
escape they carry their sucklings in their mouths, and drive 
before them those not fully grown. They were formerly 
taken by the Russians and Indians, by means of nets, clubs, 
and spears. The young are said to be delicate eating, the 
flesh resembling lamb. The flesh of the old ones is insipid 
and tough. 

" The otter is never seen upon land. He is jnirely an 
aquatic animal. When he swims he turns upon his back, 
and jjropels himself with great rapidity. The fore-paws are 



394 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

rounded like a cat's, but the claws of the older ones ai'e gen- 
erally worn off. The hind-legs, or propellers, are broad and 
flat, like paddles, and are used very dexterously. The seal 
much resembles the otter, seen at a distance, but he swims 
upon his belly, and the hunter seldom mistakes one for the 
other. The otter sleeps in the water, lying upon his back, 
and anchors himself from the motions of winds and waves by 
drawing a string of kelp across his breast, just below his 
fore-legs. "When discovered in this position, they are often 
approached very near by the hunters. They are very buoy- 
ant in the water, but when the chase has been long continued, 
and the blood of the otter becomes heated by the exercise, on 
being shot the body sinks rapidly to the bottom, and never 
rises. More than half the otters shot are lost in this way. 

" Once a day the otter comes near the shore for food. He 
eats every thing that grows in salt water, and is particularly 
fond of abelones, {haliotus) mussels, and sea-eggs. At high 
water the abelone loosens its shell from the rock, to receive 
the nourishment which the overflowing waters bring to it, and 
it is then easily taken from the rock and removed from its 
shell. The otter is well acquainted with all the peculiarities 
of this mollusk, and takes this opportunity to capture it for 
food." 

The common seal, a species of phoca, is abundant along the 
coast. 

§ 313. Vtdtures. — The Californian vulture, {Cathartes cali- 
fornianus) sometimes improperly called " condor," the largest 
bird on the continent, and next to the condor the largest fly- 
ing bird in the world, inhabits all parts of the State, though 
it is not abundant in any place. It is as prominent and pecu- 
liar a feature of the birds of California, as the grizzly bear 
among the quadrupeds. It is very shy, and is rarely killed. 
The total length of the Californian vulture is about four feet, 
and its width from tip to tip of the outstretched wings, ten 
feet or more. Its color is brownish black, with a white stripe 



ZOOLOGY. 395 

aci'oss the wings. The liead and neck are bare, and red and 
yellow in color. The bill is yellowish white, and the iris car- 
mine. Dv. Newberry says : " A portion of every day's ex- 
perience in our march through the Sacramento Valley, was a 
pleasure in watching the graceful evolutions of this splendid 
bird. Its flight is easy and efibrtless, almost beyond that of 
any other bird. As I sometimes recall the characteristic 
scenery of California, those interminable stretches of waving 
grain, with here and there, between the rounded hills, orchard- 
like clumps of oak, a scene so solitary and yet so home-like, 
over these oat-covered plains and slopes, golden yellow in the 
sunshine, always floats the shadow of the vulture." 

Dr. Heermann, of the United States Pacific Railroad Sur- 
vey, wrote thus : " Whilst unsuccessfully hunting in the 
Tejon Valley, we have often passed several hours without a 
single one of this species being in sight, but on bringing down 
any large game, ere the body had grown cold, these birds 
might be seen rising above the horizon and slowly sweeping 
towards us, intent upon their share of the prey. Nor in the 
absence of the hunter will his game be exempt from their rav- 
enous appetite, though it be carefully hidden and covered by 
shrubbery and heavy branches ; as I have known these marau- 
ders to drag forth from its concealment and devour a deer 
within an hour. Any article of clothing thrown over a car- 
cass will shield it from a vultui'e, though not from a grizzly 
bear, who little respects such flimsy protection. My coat, 
used on one occasion to cover a deer, was found on our return 
torn by bruin to shreds, and the game destroyed. The Cali- 
fornian vulture joins to his rapacity an immense muscular 
power, as a sample of which it will suflice to state that I have 
known four of them, jointly, to drag off, over a space of two 
hundred yards, the body of a young grizzly bear weighing up- 
ward of one hundred pounds." 

The turkey-buzzard, or turkey-vulture, {Cathartes aura) 
specifically the same with the bird known by that name in 



396 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

the Atlantic States, is found in all parts of California, From 
the tip of the bill to tlie end of the tail it is about thirty 
inches long, and six feet from tip to tip of the outstretched 
wings. Tlie head and neck are bare, covered with a bright- 
red wrinkled skin. The plumage commences below that, with 
a circular ruff of projecting feathers. The color of the plum- 
age is black, with a purplish lustre, many of the feathers hav- 
ing a pale border. Tlie bill is yellowish in color. 

§ 314. Eagles. — The golden eagle (Aquila canadeyisis) in- 
habits California, and indeed all parts of North America. Its 
length is thirty or forty inches ; its color on the head and neck 
is yellowish brown, white at the base of the tail, and brown, 
varying to pur])lish brown and black, elsewhere. 

Tlie bald eagle (ffalioetus leucocephalos) was abundant in 
California ten years ago, and is still often seen along the Sac- 
ramento, San Joaquin, and Klamath Rivers. It frequents rap- 
ids for the purpose of catching fish, which seem to furnish the 
larger part of its food. It is from thirty to forty inches long, 
white on the head, and at the base of the tail, and brownish 
black on the breast, wings, and back. 

The fish-hawk (Pandion carollnensis) is found along all our 
large rivers. It is from twenty to twenty-five inches long. The 
head and under parts are white, with pale yellowish-brown sjDots 
on the breast, the back, wings, and tail are dark brown. 

The goshawk (Astur atricapillus) is of the same size with 
the fish-hawk, and in color is dark — a bluish slate above, and 
mottled-white and light ashy-brown beneath. 

There are seventeen other hawks in the State, most of them 
small and rare. 

§ 315. Olds. — California has nine species of owls, namely : 
the barn, great-horned, screech, long-eared, short-eared, great 
gray, saw- whet, burrowing, and pigmy owls. All of them are 
found extensively on the continent, beyond the limits of our 
State, and all save the last two are common east of the Missis- 
sippi. 



ZOOLOGY. 397 

The burrowing owl {Athene cunicularia) is ten inches long, 
ashy-brown above and whitish-brown beneath, variegated by 
spots and bands of white and dark-brown. Dr. Newberry 
says : " The burrowing owl is found in many parts of Califor- 
nia, where it shares the burrows of Beechey's and Douglas's 
spermophiles. We usually saw them standing at the entrance 
of their burrows. They often allowed us to approach within 
shot, and, before taking flight, twisting their heads about, 
bowed with many ludicrous gestures, thus apjjarently aiding 
their imperfect sight, and getting a better view of the intruder. 
When shot at and not killed, or when otherwise alarmed, they 
fly with an irregular jerking motion, dropping down much like 
a woodcock at some other hole.'' 

The pigmy owl {Gkmcidium gnoma) is seven inches long, 
and inhabits the wooded districts. It flies about actively in the 
daytime, and appears to subsist chiefly on spari'ows, which it 
catches in daylight. The general color is brownish-olive above 
and brownish-white beneath. 

§ 316. i?oac?-nm»er.— The paisano, or road-runner, ((reo- 
coccyx californianus) is one of the most remarkable birds in 
the State. It lives almost entirely upon the ground, very 
rarely flies, and frequents the Iiighways, along wliich it will 
run from any one approaching. Its speed is nearly equal to 
that of a common horse, and it often furnishes an exciting 
chase to the solitary rider. . It is found only in the valleys and 
low hills, and makes its home among the bushes. The bird is 
akin to the cuckoo, and its generic name signifies " ground- 
cuckoo." Its length is from twenty to twenty -three inches, 
of which twelve are taken up by the tail. The color is olive- 
green above and white beneath ; tlie central tail feathers are 
olive-brown, the others dark-green — all edged and (except 
the central two) tipped with white. Dr. Heermann says : " I 
have not witnessed the following feat, but am assured by 
many old Californians that this bird, on Y>erceiving the rattle- 
snake coiled up asleep, basking in the sun, will collect the 



398 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

cactus and hedge liim around with a circle, out of which the 
reptile, unable to escape, and enraged by the prickly points 
opposing him on every side, strikes himself, and dies from the 
effects of his self-inoculated venom." The Los Angeles Star^ 
in one of its numbers. published in February, 1871, says the 
paisano will attack the snake when awake, and if it fails to 
kill him at the first stroke of the beak, will surround him with 
the cactus leaves, while the rattler remains coiled up, ready 
for another attack. After the thorny fence is completed, the 
bird again strikes the reptile till it is dead. One snake thus 
killed was four feet long. 

§ 817. Woodpeckers. — There are eleven species of wood- 
pecker in the State, and two of them, the Californian (Melan- 
erpes fortnicivorus) and Lewis's [Jlelanerjjes torquatus) are 
worthy of special mention. 

The Californian woodpecker is called by the Spanish Cali- 
fornians the car2nntero, or carpenter, because he is in the habit 
of boring holes with his beak in the bark of the nut-pine, red- 
wood, Californian white oak, and Western yellow pine, and 
then storing acorns in them for his winter use. The holes are 
just large and deep enough to hold each an acorn, which is 
hammered in so that there is no danger of its falling out. The 
acorns on the northern side of the tree, where they are pro- 
tected from the rains, which come from the southward, often 
keep good for years. The bark of the nut-pine is preferred, 
probably being softer and more regular in grain than any 
other bark. The holes are bored to within two or three feet 
of the ground, and to a height of fifty feet — sometimes, but 
rarely, in the limbs as well as the trunk. From thirty to fifty 
holes are often found in a square foot. In seasons when 
or places where acorns are rare, the woodpecker will put 
away hazel-nuts in the same manner. The squirrels often 
plunder the stores, and then the birds attack the thieves, dart- 
ing down upon them and pecking them with their beaks. 
When the squirrel sees the property-owner coming, he hurries 



ZOOLOGY. 399 

to a iiole, or gets under a limb, where tlie woodpecker cannot 
conveniently strike him. Sometimes Indians and even white 
men are glad to avail themselves of the woodpecker's stores 
as a protection against starvation. 

The length of the bird is nine inches ; the anterior part of 
the body above and the tail are black ; the belly, rump, a 
patch on the forehead, and a collar on the neck, white ; and the 
crown, and a short occipital crest, red. Dr. Newberry says : 
" This beautiful bird, the rival and representative of the red- 
headed woodpecker, [of the Atlantic slope of the Continent] 
is an inseparable element of the scenery of the Sacramento 
Valley. While we were encamped under the wide-spreading 
oaks of that region, I had a very good opportunity to study 
their habits, as they would come into the trees in the shade of 
which I was lying. They are not shy, and frequently came 
round in considerable numbers. Their manners are the very 
counterpart of the Eastern ' red-head,' and their rattling cry 
is not unlike his. Like the ' red-head,' I have seen two or 
three of them amuse themselves by playing ' hide and seek ' 
around some trunk or branch ; and like the ' red-head,' too, 
they delight to sit on the end of a dry limb, and fly off in 
circles for the insects which come near them." 

Lewis's woodpecker is in color dark glossy green above and 
gray beneath, with dark-crimson patches on the sides of the 
head and belly. The feathers on the under part are bristle- 
like. It prefers an elevated home, and is found ten or twelve 
thousand feet above the sea. 

§ 318. Himiming-Birds. — There are four humming-birds 
in California, all different from those found in the Atlantic 
States. The white-throated swift, a bird resembling the swal- 
low, but smaller, is common in the Colorado Basin. AVe have 
a whip-poor-will, difterent from the one known in the Eastern 
States. Two night-hawks are found in our State, one of them 
appearing on this slope of the continent only in the vicinity of 
the Colorado, and on the other slope not extending far beyond 



400 KESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

the Rio Grande. The belted king-lislier {Ceryle akrjon) is at 
home in California, as well as in all other parts of the conti- 
nent. 

§ 3 1 9. Fly-catchers. — The family of fly-catchers, ( Colojyteri- 
d(B) which connects the non-melodious with the true singinor 
birds, is represented in California by eleven species, most of 
which are not seen in the Atlantic States. They -are small 
birds, from five to nine inches in length, and their colors are 
usually dull. Most of them have their upper mandible bent 
down abruptly at the tip ; and they always have twelve feath- 
ers in the tail. One of the most common and the best-known 
of the fly-catchers is the bird called the " pewee." 

§ 320, Singers. — The zoological sub-order called Oscmes, 
or singers, has one hundred and nine species in our State, in- 
cluding two mocking-birds, three thrushes, two blue-birds, 
three robins, three larks, five black-birds, eleven finches, six 
wrens, six swallows, six warblers, one martin, one bunting, six 
titmouses, one snow-bird, two grosbeaks, one cow-bird, one 
oriole, one crow, three ravens, three jays, one water-ouzel, two 
magpies, and so on. Some of these birds are not called " sing- 
ers " in common language, but they all belong to the Oscmes 
sub-order, which is marked by a peculiar muscular api)aratus 
for singing, composed of five paii's of muscles in the throat. 
Though there are many species of Oscines in tlie State, yet the 
birds are not so numerous, so melodious, nor are they heard so 
often, as the feathered songsters in the Eastern States. The 
traveler may proceed for days in the Sacramento Basin, during 
the summer season, without hearing more than a few chirps. 
Our singing-birds have been multiplying very rapidly of late, 
because of the settlement and cultivation of the land, whereby 
their supply of wholesome and palatable food is much in- 
creased, and their enemies the hawks are driven away. Most 
of our swallows, one mocking-bird, one black-bird, and one 
raven, found in California, are also seen east of the Mississippi ; 
but all our jays, robins, blue-birds, and magpies, and our ori- 



ZOOLOGY. 401 

ole, are of species not found in the Atlantic States. The 
majority of the Oscines indigenous on this Coast are uukno^^'"n 
in the older States. Our mocking-birds are never domesti- 
cated, and are not to be compared to the mocking-bird of 
Virginia. 

§ 321. Scratchers. — The oi'nithological order of Easores, or 
scratchers, is represented in California by eleven species, 
namely : one pigeon, two doves, three grouse, two quails, one 
partridge, and one sand-hill crane. The pigeon, partridge, 
grouse, quails, and one of the doves, are specifically ditferent 
from the birds known by the same name east of the Missis- 
sippi. The wild-turkey is not indigenous in our State. 

Tlie most abundant and prominent of our scratchers, the 
Californian quail, {Lophorti/x califoriiicus) is found in all the 
valleys of California and Oregon. Its breast and upper parts 
are lead-colored, with an olive-brown gloss on the back and 
wings ; tlie chin and throat ai'e black, with a white line run- 
ning backward from the eye ; the forehead is brownish-yellow ; 
the belly is pale buff, with an orange-brown round spot in the 
middle, changing to white at the sides ; the feathers on the 
back and sides have a central streak of white, and those on 
the top and sides of the neck have black edgings. The head 
bears a crest numbering from three to six feathers, usually 
five, about an inch and a half long. The shafts are bare, very 
slender, and, though all are in a straight line on the longitu- 
dinal medial line of the head, they are so near together as to 
look like but one shaft, more especially as the fine, fur-like 
bushes at their tops all combine to form a compact little plume. 
These feathers are usually erect, the plume leaning forward 
when the bird is trying to look its best in the presence of 
company ; but when running about in the grass, and not 
thinking of its appearance, the crest is lowered, falling for- 
ward over the bilk 

The Californian quail has two notes — the song and the call. 
The song of the Atlantic quail is in two notes — the well-known 
26 



402 RESOURCES OF CALIFORIJIA. 

whistle, sounding like " Bjb White." The song of the Cali- 
fornian quail has but one note, beginning like the " Bob," and 
ending like the " White " of its Eastern relative. The calls of 
the Atlantic and Pacific quails are nearly alike, and may be 
represented by the syllables '' hi-re-he." " As a game-bird," 
says Dr. Newberry, " the Califoruian quail is inferior to the 
Eastern one, though perhaps of equal excellence for the table- 
It does not lie as well to the dog, and does not aftord a good 
sport. It also takes a tree more readily than the Atlantic 
quail. Like its Eastern relative, the* cock-bird is very fond of 
sitting on some stump or log projecting above the grass and 
weeds which conceal his mate and nest or brood, and especially 
in the early morning, uttering his peculiar cry." 

The plumed quail, {Oreortyx pieties) likewise called the 
" mountain quail," while the Lophortyx californicus is often 
styled the " valley quail," is peculiar to this Coast, and is one 
of the most beautiful featui-es of its ornithology. It is a par- 
tridge, ten inches long, very plump in shape, handsome in 
color, majestic in its bearing, and graceful in motion. Its head 
is surmounted by a crest of two straight feathers, three and a 
half inches long, which hang backward, one immediately over 
the other. The breast and neck are lead-colored, the upper 
parts generally olive brown ; the throat and head, beneath the 
eyes, orange-chestnut ; the abdomen white. There are numer- 
ous variegations of white, black, and minor shades, on the 
plumage, all contributing to heighten its beauty. 

The mountain partridge lives in the hills and mountains, 
from the Tejon Pass to the Columbia River. Its song sug- 
gests the sound represented by the word " whoit," whistled 
fuller and louder than the song of the Californian quail. It 
roosts upon the ground ; and if bushes be near, in which to 
hide, it will rather run than tiy from its enemies. It seldom 
flies more than two hundred yards at a time. The cock is 
equally attentive with the hen to the young brood, which usu- 
ally varies from eight to twelve in number. The families seem 



ZOOLOGY. 403 

to be much attached to each other, and if they are scattered, 
tliey are very uneasy until all are collected again. In such 
cases the hunter can entice them to come to him by imitating 
the call of either old or young. They are easily domesticated 
— more readily than their brethren of the valley. The mountain 
partridge hates the quail, and when brought into its presence 
always attacks it ; the smaller bird makes no resistance. 

Gambel's quail {Lorphortyx gambelU) is a bird diiFering 
from the Californian quail only in having duller colors, and 
is perhaps specifically the same, the difterence in color being a 
mere accident of climate. Occasionally white quails, very 
similar in form and size to the Lophortyx californicus^ are 
found near Humboldt Bay. 

The sage-cock, or cock of the plains, ( Oentrocercus eropha- 
sianus) the largest of the American grouse, often weighing 
five or six pounds, inhabits the dry plains in the vicinity of 
Pit River. It is sometimes twenty-nine inches long and forty- 
two inches across from tip to tip of outstretched wings. Its 
color above is variegated with black, brown, brownish-yellow, 
and whitish-yellow ; its breast is white, its belly black. The 
male has bare, fiame-colored patches of skin on the neck, 
which are ordinarily hidden by the feathers, but which are 
plainly visible when he struts about before the hen, with his 
neck puffed out like a pouter-pigeon's. 

The sharp-tailed grouse {Pediocmtes phasianellus) is also found 
in the northeastern corner of the State. It is eighteen inches 
long, light brownish-yellow above, varied with black, and 
white beneath, the feathers on the breast and sides having 
brown marks shaped like a V. The tail is long and sharp, the 
central feathers and the others growing gradually shorter as 
they approach the sides ; there are eighteen feathers in the 
tail. 

The dusky grouse {Tetrao obscurus) inhabits the coniferous 
forests of the Sierra Nevada, in the northeastern part of the 
State. The cock, according to common report, is the hand- 



404 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

somest of all the American grouse. It is twenty inclies long, 
dark-brown above, mottled with lead-color, and lead-color be- 
neath. There are twenty feathers in the tail, which is broad- 
ly tipped with a light slate-color. 

The band-tailed pigeon, ( Columba fasciata) the only wild 
pigeon found on the Pacific Coast, bears a strong resemblance, 
in form, size, and color, to its congener in the Atlantic States, 
and has similar habits ; but is not numei-ous. Small flocks mi- 
grate through the State every spring and autumn, and some 
of them spend the summer here. 

The white-winged dove {JSIelophelia leucoptercC) has been 
seen in the southern part of the State, but is very rare. It 
has white spots on its wings, whence its common and technical 
names are derived. 

The common dove {Zenaidura carol inens is) is found on the 
Pacific slope as well. 

The sand-hill crane [Grus canadensis) are found from the 
meridian of Cincinnati to the Pacific, and are not rare in Cal- 
ifornia. They spend the winters in our valleys, and in the 
spring migrate to the Klamath Lakes, and farther north, where 
they spend their summers and breed. Subsisting upon vege- 
table food exclusively, they are themselves good to eat, and 
are occasionally seen in the San Francisco market. 

§ 322. Waders. — The order of waders {Grallatoixs) is 
represented in California by forty-one species of birds, name- 
ly: one crane, two herons, two bitterns, one fiy-up-the-creek, 
one ibis, six plovers, one oyster-catcher, two turnstones, one 
avoiset, three phalaropes, one stillet, one willet, one godwit, 
one curlew, five snipes, five sand-])ipers, one saiiderling, three 
rails, and one coot. The oyster-catcher, one turn-itoiie, one 
plover, and one heron, are the only species in the list not found 
east of the Mississippi, and none of tliem have such value or 
peculiarities as would give interest to a particular description 
of them. 



ZOOLOGY. 405 

§ 323. Sioimmers. — California lias sixty-six species of tlie 
ovdev of swimmers {Natatores) . Of tliese there are two 
swans, six geese, twenty-two ducks, four albatrosses, two pe- 
trels, seven gulls, four terns, three pelicans, three cormorants, 
four guillemots, one loon, and various miscellaneous species. 
One swan, all the albatrosses, five gulls, the two petrels, the 
loon, and one guillemot, are found only on this Coast. 

The trumpeter-swan {Cygmis buccinator) is a very large 
bird, measuring five feet from the point of the bill to the end 
of the tail, and six feet across from tip to tip of the out- 
stretched wings. The plumage is snowy white in color ; its 
legs and bill are black. The name of " trumpeter " rs given to 
it because of its clarion-like scream, which is heard as it files. It 
frequents the lakes in the northern and northeastern -parts of 
the State, and is sometimes seen in the rivers. It is a shy bird, 
and is rarely killed. 

The American swan, found also on the Atlantic slope of the 
continent, is similar in appearance and size to the trumpeter, 
but lacks its loud voice, and is otherwise distinguishable from 
it cluefiy by having an orange-colored spot on its bill, in front 
of the eye, whereas the bill of the Cygnus buccinator is en- 
tirely black. 

Wild geese are very abundant in California during the 
spring and fall, when they pass through on their migrations. 
Among them are the Canada goose, [Bemicla canadensis) the 
snow-goose, {Anser hyperboreus) the white-footed goose, or 
" speckled belly," {Anser erythrojms) Hutchings' goose {Ber- 
nicla hutcMnsii) and the black brandt, {Bemicla nigricans). 
Hutchings' goose is more abundant than any of the others. 
Some of them, while in the State, get all their food in the 
tules ; others in the spring resort to the fields of young grain, 
where they pasture. Dr. Newberry says : " I was much in- 
terested in noticing the perfect harmony of intercourse which 
seemed to exist among the smaller species. They intermingled 
freely while feeding, and when alarmed arose without separa- 



406 KESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

tion ; and I have seen a triangle flying steadily higli ovei* my 
head, composed of individuals of three species, each plainly 
distinguishable by its plumage, but each holding its place in 
tlie geometrical figure, as though it was composed of entirely 
homogeneous material ; perhaps unequal members of the 
darker species, with three, four, or more pure snow-white 
geese flying together somewhere in the converging lines." 

Among the ducks of California are the mallard and canvas- 
back. Tiie meat of the latter has not so fine a flavor as in the 
Eastern States, probably because it does not here find tlie wild 
celery upon which it feeds along the streams of the middle 
States. 

. Many of the geese and ducks pass the winter in California, 
where they find an abundance of food in the grain-fields and 
tnles. 

The murre, or foolish guillemot, ( Uria rifigvin) is similar to 
the gulls, seventeen inches long, dark-brown above and white 
beneath, with ti-ansvei-se stripes of ashy-brown" on its sides. 
Its throat is brown in summer and white in winter. It fre- 
quents the islands along the coast, and lays its eggs there on 
the bare ground or rocks. Tiiese eggs are wonderfully irregu- 
lar in form, size, and color, but are generally about three 
and a half inches long, sea-green in color, with dark-brown 
spots of angular shapes on them. Quantities of these eggs 
are obtained every year at the Farallones, and are sold in the 
San Francisco market at about half the price of hens' eggs 
per dozen, or, if taken by weight, at one-fourth. Their taste, 
however, is i*ank, and they are not used by those who can af- 
ford to buy hens' eggs. 

Dr. Ileermann says : " At one o'clock every day during the 
egg season, Sundays and Thursdays excepted, (this is to give 
the birds some little resijite) the egg-huntei-s meet on the 
south side of the island. The roll is called, to see that all are 
present, that each one may have an equal chance in gathering 
the spoil. The signal is given, every man starting oft' at a full 



ZOOLOGY. 407 

run for the most productive egging-grounds. Tlie gulls [Larus 
occidentalism Western gull) understanding, apparently, what is 
about to occur, are on the alert, hovering overhead, and await- 
ing only the advance of the party. The men rush eagerly 
into the rookeries ; the affrighted murres have scarcely risen 
from their nests, before the gull, with remarkable instinct, 
not to say almost reason, Hying but a few paces ahead of the 
hunter, alights on the ground, tapping such eggs as the short 
time will allow, before the egger comes up with him. The 
broken eggs are passed by the men, who remove only those 
which are sound. The gull, then returning to the field of its 
exploits, procures a plentiful supply of its favorite food." 

A diver, found in the bays and rivers of the State, gray on 
the back and white below, is valuable for its skin, which is 
stretched and dried with the feathers on, and then used for 
muffs and collars. The meat is so fishy and tough, that it is 
not fit for the table. 

§ 324. Fishes. — The fishes of the coast and rivers of Cali- 
fornia are all different from those of the Atlantic side of the 
continent, with the exception, perhaps, of one species of the 
halibut- The cod and shad, two of the most important fishes 
of the sea of the Eastern shore, and the lobster among crus- 
taceans, are here wanting, as also the cat-fish kind in the 
rivers. Otherwise, our waters are probably as rich in game 
for the fisherman as those of any country. 

§ 325. Salmo)i. — The most important fish of California is 
the quinuat salmon, (Salmo quinnai) a species found from 
Point Conception to the Columbia River. Its color above is 
olivaceous broAvn, changing to salmon-color beneath. The 
largest one ever caught weighed sixty-two pounds ; the 
common size is from ten to thirty pounds. The salmon are 
born in the rivers, but go down to the sea, where they spend 
part of every year. They commence to enter the Bay of San 
Francisco in November, and continue to come in for three or 
four months. They ascend the Sacramento and San Joaquin 



408 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

Rivers and some of their smaller tributaries, deposit their 
spaM'n, and in June go out to sea again. They come in lean 
and go out lean, but in the late winter and early spring they 
are fat. There are two common popular errors : that the sal- 
mon do not eat after leaving the sea, and that they never get 
back alive. The former error is owing to the fact that no 
large articles of food are found in its stomach ; and the latter 
to the fact that when going out all are lean, and that many 
are found dead al-ong the banks of salmon-streams. But the 
salmon find their chief food in minute animalcuhi3, and not in 
fish, for catching which they seem to be so well fitted, with their 
large mouths and sharp teeth. It is well known that the 
salmon bite like trout, and furnish excellent sport in clear 
water to the skillful fisherman with the fly. They dislike the 
mud with which the streams emptying into San Francisco Bay 
are filled by the miners, and therefore do not go far from the 
sea or ascend the small tributaries ; but elsewhere they as- 
cend every little brook, up to points where tliere is scarcely 
enough water for them to swim ; and in these exjjeditions they 
are so much exhausted and bruised that they soon die ; but 
the number thus killed is as nothing compared with those 
which go out to sea again. The female salmon, having found 
a suitable place, uses her nose to dig a trench in the sand 
about six feet long, a foot wide, and three inches deep, and 
having deposited her spawn in it, throws a little sand over it 
with her tail, and departs, leaving her eggs to be hatched and 
the offspring to be fed as best they can. In the month of 
May the young salmon are found on their way to the sea, 
from three to six inches long. It is sujiposed that the salmon 
always return to the river in which they were born : so tliat 
the salmon born in the Klamath River never enter San Fran- 
cisco Bay, nor do those born in the Sacramento and San Joa- 
quin Rivers ever enter Humboldt Bay. Although the sea- 
son in which salmon are abundant in the rivers extends from 
November to June, yet some of them are found in the 



ZOOLOGY. 409 

streams of Califoniia at all seasons, and they can be had fresh 
in tlie San Francisco market every day in the year. 

The quinnat is the chief salmon of all the streams and bays 
of California, but Gairdner's salmon {Fario gairdneri) is 
found in the Klamath lliver, iini\. the steUatus salmon in Hum- 
boldt Bay and its tributaries. Gairdner's salmon has a sil- 
very-gray back, silvery sides, and a yellowish-white belly. 
The body has numerous indistinct, blackish spots. The stel- 
latus salmon is light-olive in the back, yellowish-white on the 
belly, and rarely exceeds two or three pounds in weight. 

§ 326. Halibut. — There are two species of halibut on the 
coast of California, tlie Californian (Hipjwglossus cal'tforni- 
ciis) and tlie common {Ilipjyoglossiis vulgaris). Tiiere is 
some doubt whether the latter species is properly named ; if it 
be, then we have one species of fish found on the Atlantic 
coast. The Californian halibut is a slender fish, weigliing at 
the largest twenty-five pounds, in color grayish-brown above 
and white below. The halibut prefer a colder climate, and 
are not sufficiently abundant in this latitude to sustain a spec- 
ial fishery ; but a few are in our market throughout the year. 
They live in deep water, and in places where the bottom is 
rocky. They eat little fish and shell-fish, and bite readily at 
the hook. Their meat is very delicate. 

§ 327, Turbot. — The turbot {Pleiironychthys riu/osKs) is 
the only large fiat-fish, except the halibut, found along our 
shore. It inhabits deep waters and rocky bottoms, eats fish, 
and bites readily at the hook, is one of the best fish in our 
market, and sometimes grows to weigh twenty pounds, but 
the common size is from three to ten pounds. 

§ 328. Sole. — We have four species of small fiat-fish, com- 
monly called soles {Psettichthys sordidus, Psettichthys inela- 
nostictus, Parophrys vetidus, and Platessa bilineata). They 
ai'e so much alike, that they are not distinguished from 
one another by fishermen generally. The Platessa bilineata is 
the largest, sometimes weighing two pounds ; the others rarely 



410 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

exceed one pound. They frequent the shallow waters of the 
Bay of San Francisco, and are caught abundantly in nets at 
all seasons of the year. The flat-fishes do not bury them- 
selves in the mud here through the winter, as tliey do in the 
North Atlantic. The soles feed on Crustacea, little fishes, and 
marine animacula?. 

§ 329. Mackerel. — The mackerel, {Scomber diego)' found 
north of Point Conce]>tion, is good, but not more than half as 
large as the Atlantic mackerel, rarely exceeding ten inches ia 
length. It lies near the surface of the water at sea, and is not 
fond of entering bays, or going very near the shore. Like its 
Eastern congener, it bites readily at any white rag or shining 
white substance jerked through the water. 

§ 330, Mock-Fish. — The rock-fish furnish the main supply 
of fish in the San Francisco market. All belong to the genus 
Sebastes, of which there are eight species, the most important 
being the red, (rosaceus) black, {melanops) and wharf rock- 
fish (auricidatus). The red rock-fish grows to weigh twenty 
pounds ; the other species rarely exceed four or five. The 
wharf rock-fish is the only one caught in the bay ; the others 
live out at sea, in deep water and on rocky bottoms ; they eat 
crabs and shell-fish, and bite freely at hooks. Tiiey are al- 
ways in market, and their meat is excellent at all seasons. 

§ 331. Sturgeon. — The sturgeon is represented in this 
State by thi-ee species, the only important one being the Cali- 
fornian sturgeon, Avhich sometimes reaches a length of nine 
feet, with a weight of 300 pounds. It is a sea-fish, but 
spawns in fresh water, and it is caught in the Bay of San 
Francisco and tributaries at all seasons of the year ; whereas 
in the Eastern States there are seasons for sturgeon in the 
market, as there are for beans and peas. 

The sturgeon eats the slimy matter, both animal and vege- 
table, at the bottom of the sea. It never bites, its mouth 
being circular in form, and fitted only for sucking. It has a 
habit of shooting \ip from the bottom and springing out of 



ZOOLOGY. 411 

water, and then falling flat upon its belly, making a loud 
sj^lasli — very difterent from the porjDoise, which also darts out 
of the water, but always strikes head first, making little noise. 
Some ichthyologists suppose tliat the object of the sturgeon in 
thus falling on the water is to free itself from parasites; 
others, that it is merely a kind of play. The spawning-season 
is not known precisely, but it is probably from December to 
May. The meat of the sturgeon is coarse, and in the market 
is worth only about one-fourth or one-sixth of that of the 
better table fishes ; but the sturgeon fishery is profitable, be- 
cause of the abundance and large size of the fish. 

§ 332. Jewfish. — The Jewfish, {Stereohjns gigas) one of 
the largest scale-fishes, weighing sometimes five hundred 
pounds— is abundant south of Point Conception, and rarely 
straggles as far north as San Francisco Bay. Only two have 
been caught near the Golden Gate, and one of them filled the 
city with wonder. It is a bottom fish, living in deep and shoal 
water, and frequenting lagoons and kelp. It often comes to 
the surface, and according to report, goes to sleep there. It 
bites readily at the hook, and may be taken with harpoons. 
The meat is very good. 

§ 333. Simjish. — The sunfish, [Orthagoriseus analis) 
though not abundant, is frequently found south of Point Con- 
ception, wliere it is seen floating on the surface, in accordance 
with the habits of the genus everywhere. Its form suggests 
the idea that the body has been cut off near the broadest part, 
and the tail sewed on, and its usual weight ranges from fifty 
to one hundred pounds. 

§ 334. Greenfish. — The greenfish, (Opplo)nona pantheri- 
na) generally called cod in the San Francisco market, but 
having no relationship to the true cod, is abundant along the 
coast. It grows to about two feet in length. The meat is 
coarse, and green in color ; and the fish has little commercial 
value. 



412 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

§ 335. Sea-Bass. — The sea-bass [Johnius nohilis) is a 
plain, oval fish, bluish-gray in color above, silvery below, 
weighing from fifteen to forty pounds. It is closely related to 
the weak-fish of the New York market. The meat is white 
and delicate, and always commands a high price in the 
market. It is a surface fish, and sometimes enters tlie bays, 
but it is not abundant anywhere. It is caught from March to 
November. 

§ 336. Sheepshead. — The Californian sheepshead (Labinis 
pulcher) is a black fish, with a broad, bright- red band sur- 
rounding the body, and weighs from one to twelve pounds. 
It has Avhite, broad, projecting teeth, like those of a sheep. It 
has no relationship to the Atlantic sheepshead, but is a conge- 
ner of the black-fish of the New Yoi-k market. The meat 
has a very fine flavor when fi-esh, but loses its delicacy after 
being dead a day or two. It is found sonth of Point Concep- 
tion, on rocky and kelpy bottoms, from April to October. Its 
food is chiefly shell-fish. 

§ 337. Smelts. — We have four species of fisli called smelts 
( Atherniojms californiensis, Atherniopsis affinis, Osmerus 
preciosiis, and Osmerus simills). The Athemiopses are not 
true smelts, but belong to the same genus with the sander- 
lings of the Atlantic, which last are thrown away, or used only 
as bait ; whereas our Atherniopses are valuable fislies. The 
Athei'niopsis caUfomiefisis forms the great bulk of the smelts 
in our market. It is the largest of the Pacific smelts, sometimes 
reaching a length of fifteen inches, and a pound in weight. The 
Osmerus species are small. All of them have bright silver 
bands along their sides. The smelts are more abundant liere 
than on the Eastern Coast, and are the best of our small fishes. 
They are caught at all seasons of the year ; in the bays with 
nets — never at sea, or with hooks. 

§ 338. Anchovi/. — There are two ancliovies {Enyraidis 
mordax and Engrcmlis nanus) on the coast of California. 
They are so nearly alike, that they are undistinguishable ex- 



ZOOLOGY. 413 

cept by iclithyologists. Both are small, from four to six inches 
long, very delicate in Havor, but very bony. They are fully 
equal to the European anchovy for the table. They feed on 
minute aniraalculjB, go in shoals, and are caught with nets in 
the bays at all seasons of the year. 

§ 339. Sardine and Herring. — The sardine {lleletta ceru- 
lea) is abundant from Ilumljoldt Bay to San Diego. It grows 
to a length of eight or nine inches, and is therefore much larger 
than the Mediterranean sardine, to which it is fully equal in 
flavor. It is found along the coast from April to October, and 
is caught in the bays with nets. 

The herring (CT«/^>ea mirahilis) is not so abundant as the 
Atlantic species, nor so large, but is equal in flavor. It comes 
in the spring, and goes in the autumn. 

§ 340. Viviparoiis Fishes. — The viviparous or embiotocoid 
fishes of this Coast are a peculiar feature of its ichtliyology. 
They constitute, perhaps, the most remarkable natural group 
of fishes in the world, and their discovery caused a marked 
sensation among zoologists. Other viviparous fishes have been 
previously known, but their young are brought forth in a very 
immature condition ; whereas the little embiotocoid fishes are 
born with a fullness of development similar to that of warm- 
blooded animals, and the moment after they leave the mother 
they are seen swimming about and taking care of themselves. 
There are seventeen or eighteen species belonging to the sev- 
eral genera, among which the emhiotoca and holconotis ai"e 
prominent. All are marine fishes save one, which is found in 
fresh water. Tliey weigh from half a pound to three pounds, 
and most of them are grayish brown above and silvery be- 
neath. They are abundant in the market at all seasons of the 
year, and are called " perch " by the fishermen, though they 
bear no relationship to the true perch. The meat is not good. 
The young are born from April to August. 

§ 341. Flyin(j-Fi!>h. — The Californian flying-fish, {E.voce- 
tus californicus) found ofl" our coast from Santa Cruz to San 



414 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

Diego, grows to be aboi;t sixteen inches long, with flying fins 
nine inches long. These start out back of the gills, and when 
folded down against the body, reach nearly to the tail. It can 
fly from 200 to 400 yards, does not reach a height of more 
than 25 feet, nor stay out of water more than a minute at a 
time. It is seldom caught, save when it flies on a vessel. The 
meat is palatable. 

§ 342. FresliAoater Fishes. — Among the fresh-water fishes 
the most important is the brook-trout, {Salar iridea) which 
is found in all the mountain streams of the State, and 
offers fine sport for fly-fishing. It not unfrequently grows to 
weigh two pounds, and if report is to be believed, sometimes 
reaches ten and twelve pounds. In appearance and flavor it 
is similar to the trout of otlier countries. 

A fish called the salmon-trout, {Plychocheilus grandis) but 
not related to the salmon, the trout, or the salmon-trout, found 
in all the large rivers and lakes of California, weighing 30 
pounds at its largest size, is caught with the hook or net in 
winter. The meat is insipid. It lives on shell-fish, whicli it 
crushes in its throat, where its teeth are. 

A chub, {Tygoma crassicauda) and two suckers, (Catosto- 
mus lahiatus and Catostomus occidentalis) never weighing 
more than three pounds, are also found in our rivers. They 
are not valuable. 

§ 343. Reptiles. — The snakes of California are not large, 
numerous, or remarkable. Only one of tliem, the rattle- 
snake, is poisonous. 

The scorpion is found in the warmer portions of the State, 
but is not abundant. 

Tarantulas are common in Calaveras, Mariposa, Fresno, and 
Tulare Counties. Tiiey belong to the same genus with the 
spiders, but the body grows to be three inches long and an 
inch wide, and the entire length from end to end of out- 
stretched legs is five inches. The body and legs are covered 
with silky, brown hair. The tarantula eats little insects of vari- 



ZOOLOGY. 415 

ous kinds, but, unlike most other sj^iders, lias no net. It lives 
in a hole in tlie ground, not much larger than itself when 
pressed into the smallest comjjass, and the hole is covered by 
a little door on a hinge, which closes by its own weight, or by 
a spring. In the top of the door are several little holes, into 
which the tarantula can insert its claws when it wishes to en- 
ter; and so quick are its motions when terrified, that it often 
disappears suddenly under the eyes of men pursuing it, and 
they have great dilficulty in finding its hiding-place. The 
door fits tightly, and is larger on the outside, so that it never 
sticks fast. 

The bite of the tarantula is poisonous, but not fatal — or at 
least has never, so far as I know, proved fatal in California. 
It rarely bites men, and generally fiees when it discovers their 
approach. The tarantulas have dangerous enemies in several 
species of wasps, the females of which kill them by thrusting 
eggs into their bodies. When the larvae of the wasp are 
hatched, they make food of the carcass. So soon as the tar- 
antula dies, the wasp drags it to her hole, usually the deserted 
burrow of a sperraophile, where she may collect twenty or 
thirty dead tarantulas in one season. There are three difter- 
ent species of these wasps : one kind is blue, another yellow. 
Sometimes the wasp darts down repeatedly upon the taran- 
tula, and does not touch him except with her egg-planter, de- 
positing an egg at every thrust. On other occasions the two 
grapple, and the wasp continues to insert her eggs until the 
tarantula dies. The editor of a newspaper of Mariposa thus 
describes the killing of a tarantula : " Some of our readers 
may have heard of the tenacity with which the venomous tar- 
antula is pursued by an inveterate enemy, in the form of a huge 
wasp — invariably resulting in the defeat and death of tlie for- 
mer. We were an eye-witness to one of these confiicts last 
week, while on a ramble among the adjacent hills. This is 
the season when the poisonous tarantula leaves his well-fash- 
ioned abode to perambulate the dusty roads and smooth paths 



416 RESOURCES OF CALIFORXIA. 

SO often trod by tlie industrious miners ; and about their 
haunts a dozen or more may be seen any day, of tliis hideous 
enlargement of the spider-race, within a circuit of a few 
yards, leisurely wending their way along the roads and by- 
ways. Often have we marked, with attentive curiosity, his 
awkvvanl. ^ait wliilo lifting his long, unwieldy legs above the 
sliort blades of grass, and wondered for what uses and pur- 
I^oses this ugly little monster was placed upon this beautiful 
globe. While attentively watcliing the motions of one of 
these ijisccts during our walk, we were much surprised to see 
the object of our attraction suddenly stop sliort in his wan- 
derings and raise itself up to its full height, as though watch- 
ing the coming of some unwelcome visitor. AYe at lirst su^j- 
posed that it had just espied us, and was expecting danger at 
our hands; but upon our retreating a few steps, he quickly 
crouched behind a tuft of dried grass, and remaining very 
qniet, seemed to make himself as small as possible. A slight 
buzzing was heard in the air, and in a moment a wasp passed 
near, hovering on the wing over his trembling victim, the 
much-dreaded tai'antula. Like some bird of prey, the wasp 
remained thus jtuisfd for a moment, and then, quick as 
thought, darted down upon the enemy, and stung him many 
times with great rai)idity. Tlie tarantula, smarting under the 
pain, began a retreat, with all tlie speed of which he was 
capable; but the wasp hung over him with wonderful tenac- 
ity, and again and again struck him with liis venomous sting. 
Gradually the llight of the tarantula became slower and 
more irregular, and at length, under the repeated thi'usts of 
his conqueror, he died, biting the grass with his terrible 
fangs." 

Several species of small spiders, which live in a dwelling 
like those of the tarantula, and therefore called " trap-door" 
spiders, are found in California, and one kind has many rep- 
resentatives on Telegrai)h Hill, in San Francisco. 



ZOOLOGY. 417 

Locusts and grasslioppers are abundant in the valleys ; 
mosquitoes in the tules, and along the streams in the Sacra- 
mento Basin ; and tlies everywhere. 

§ 344, IIoneii-Deio Aphis. — Among tlie noteworthy insects 
of the State is one which secretes a sweet liquid called " lioney- 
dew," and deposits it on trees. It is transparent, thick like 
honey, and sweet, sometimes with a bitter after-taste, but more 
frequently having a flavor like parched corn. The leaves and 
twigs are covered with it, the deposit usually being nearly even, 
occasionally in s|)ots or drops. The honey-dew is more fre- 
quently found on oak-trees than on any other tree or bush ; and 
oftener in dry seasons, and remote fi-om the coast, tlian in wet 
weather or within reach of the sea-fogs. A kind of molasses 
may be made by breaking oif the twigs covered with the seci-e- 
tion, and boiUng them in water. Honey-dew is found in most 
countries where tlie soil is barren or the climate dry, and may 
be the same with the manna of the Hebrews. 

§ 345, Shell-Fish — We have five species of shell-fish val- 
uable for tlie table : one oyster, two mussels, one cockle, and a 
soft-slielled clam. The oysters are small, not finely-flavored, 
nor abundant. 

The abelone or aulone {Haliotis) is found as far north as 
Point Reyes, and abounds south of Point Conception. It is a 
mollusk witli one shell, from five to seven inches across ; beau- 
tifully iridescent, and is much used in the arts for buttons, knife- 
handles, and inlaying. Many vessels are engaged in fishing 
for them. The abeiones stick to the rocks and to each other, 
collecting in some places in masses two feet tliick ; the fisher- 
men break them ofi* from the rocks with a spade. When the 
abeiones do not susj)ect danger, they loosen tlieir hold and raise 
their shells from the rock, and then the fisherman may easily 
thrust his spade down along the surface of the stone ; but if 
he alarms the abelone beforehand, lie finds the shells fastened 
down to the rock with great power, and all the strength of a 
man is scarcely suflicient to pry one of them ofi". The meat of 
27 



418 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

the abelone is eaten by the Chinese, who dry it into a sub- 
stance resembling a colt's hoof in color, and liardness, and 
shape. 

There are two cowries on the coast of California ; one sliell 
of the harp {harpa) genus, so called because ribs suggesting the 
strings of a harp run down over its sides from its spiral crown ; 
four species of the olive, (oliva) which resemble the fruit of the 
same in size, shape, and color; one species of the volifta, (simi- 
lar to the harp, but without its ribs) ; twelve species of the lim- 
pet, and two species of the bivalve pilgrim shell, (pecten) used 
sometimes by ladies for pincushions. All these contribute to 
make the beaches in the southern part of the State attractive. 

We have no lobster, but a prawn, {Palimiris) very similar 
to the lobster in size, color, flavor, habits, and general appear- 
ance, except that it lacks the large claws. Crabs are abun- 
dant. 

The shrimp {Crangon francisconim) is found in the bays of 
California, and was very abundant a few years ago ; but lately 
it is getting scarce, at least in San Francisco Bay. 

Coral grows off the coast at various points, as far north as 
tl e Farallones ; and sponge is found from Santa Barbara south- 
ward in small quantities. 

The climate is so dry in many parts of the State that land 
mollusks are comparatively rare, and some of the snails 
adapt themselves to the circumstances by estivating, or re- 
maining torpid in the hot dry months, as other animals hy- 
bernate in very cold weather farther north. 

A sea-egg, {Echhms) sea-urchin, or sea-porcupine, as it is 
variously called, has a shell nearly spherical in shape, and 
about three inches in diameter, with spines three inclies long 
and an eighth of an inch in diameter. The flesh is jmlatable, 
and the spines are sometimes used as slate-pencils. 

§ 346. )Ship-Worm. — The ship-worm (Teredo navalis) is 
probably not indigenous in the waters of California, but it 
abounds in our bays, and does great damage. It is a worm 



ZOOLOGY. 419 

of soft flesh, But is provided with bone-like cutters, or teeth, 
with Avhich it bores through hard wood, sometimes making a 
hole a third of an inch in diametei*. It usually follows the 
grain, lives only in wood below high tide in salt water, and 
never descends far below low tide. The mixture of fresh 
water witli that from the sea diminishes the activity of the 
teredo, and in seasons of drought they do comparatively much 
injury in San Francisco Bay, but little after abundant rains, 
continuing late into the summer. The eggs are thrown out 
upon the water and carried about by the current. If they 
stick upon wood, they hatch and bore in, and once inside they 
never leave it till it is converted into honey-comb. Piles fif- 
teen inches through, unless covered with metal or filled with 
some substance (creosote, for instance) ofl:ensive to the ship- 
worm, are usually rendered worthless in five years, and some- 
times in three. 

Another harbor pest is the gribble, (Litnnoria) a worm 
about one-tenth of an inch long, which lives in wood exposed 
to sea water, between high and low tide, and unlike the teredo, 
eats across the grain, and comes out to the surface. 



420 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

LAW. 

§ 347, Constitution. — California is a State in the American 
Union, nominally sovereign, but subject to the superior author- 
ity of Congress over commerce, naturalization, coinage, cur- 
rency, foreign relations, and the army and navy. The execu- 
tive officers of State ai-e elected by the people, a year before 
the Presidential election, and hold office for four years. The 
legislative power of the State is held by a Senate, of forty 
members, who hold office four years, (lialf being elected every 
alternate year) and an Assembly of eighty members, all of 
whom are elected every odd year. The Legislature holds a 
regular session of four months once in two years, commencing 
in December of every odd year. The members generally are 
men wdth little experience in business, and little character. 
Gross corruption is common among them. 

The Supreme Court of California has five judges, who are 
elected by the people, and \vho hold their office for a term of 
ten j^ears. It has no original jurisdiction, and devotes itself to 
the decision of law questions brought up on appeal from the 
District Courts, of which there are twenty. The District Judges 
are elected by thepeojile for six years, and have original j uris- 
diction hi cases of mandamus, injunction, land titles, divorces, 
suits for more than $300 in money, murder, and arson that 
might cause death. Crimes are tried in the County Courts. 



LAW. 421 

Eitlier party can have a jun^ in any case, and it may be waived 
in civil suits or trials for misdemeanor, but not in felonies. The 
judges of California have, as a class, been learned, able, and 
upright men, and have been far superior to the legislative and 
executive officers in learning, capacity, and integrity. 

The county officers are mostly elected for terms of two or 
four years, and they are generally chosen on account of serv- 
ice rendered to the successful party. The term of service be- 
ing brief, reelection doubtful, ejection for incompetency un- 
heard of, and punishment for malfeasance — notwithstanding 
the frequency of the offense — very rare, thei'e is no sufficient 
motive to stimulate the officials to study their duties, or to 
comply very strictly with them, so far as known. 

The Federal as well as the State offices are the subjects of 
scramble once in four years, or oftener, and success is not de- 
termined by the public interests. The partisan system of the 
United States is corrupt and corrupting everywJiere, and in few 
States has its influence been more pernicious than here. San 
Francisco has fortunately repudiated it, and most of her offi- 
cials have been chosen in defiance of the Republican and Dem- 
oci'atic wire-workers, and her administration has been in many 
respects better than that of any other American city. 

§ 348. Marriage. Marriage, by the law of California, is a 
civil contract. No ceremonial form, publication of banns, 
consent of parents, blessing of piiest, seal of magistrate, or 
presence of witness, is necessary to give validity to the con- 
tract, if the parties be adults. Although the law does not 
require a ceremony, yet custom does, and the priests and 
preachers are usually called in to perform it. Divorce may 
be granted for adultery, habitual intemperance, extreme 
cruelty, desertion for two years, sentence to the State prison 
for two years or more, and impotence. There has been much 
complaint that the statute renders divorce too easy, but the 
general opinion of California is favorable to the law as it is. 



422 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

§ 349. Inheritance. — The husband can convey his separate 
property and one-half of the common property by will, at his 
pleasure. If, however, he gives little or nothing to his chil- 
dren or wife, the jury in the Probate Court may declare him 
insane, and set the will aside. If he died without a will, his 
widow takes one-half if there be no child, or only one child, 
and one-third if tliere be two or more cliildren. If there be 
no child, half shall go to his father, and if there be no father 
living, then to the mother, brothers, and sistei-s in equal shares, 
or the entire half to one if only one be alive. If the intestate 
had a child who died before him and left children, they get 
the share of their parent. The children inherit equally when 
they inherit anything. No distinction is made on account of 
age or sex. If the intestate leave no wife or child, all goes 
to the father, and if he leave no child, parent, brother, or sis- 
ter, all goes to the wife. In case of the death of the wife 
without a will, her property descends in the same manner to 
her husband, children, and relatives. 

No legacy to a corporation is valid, unless the corporation 
be expressly authorized by its charter, or by statute to take 
bequests. 

§ 350. Conveyance of Land. — Real estate is conveyed by 
" grant." The Statute gives the following as a valid form : 

I, A B , gi-ant to C D all that real j^rop- 

erty situated in County, State of California, bounded as 

follows . 

Witness my hand this day of 18 — . 

A. B. 

No seal is necessary, and a fee-simple title passes, unless a 
limitation be expressed. Under the English law, if the con- 
veyance were made to " John Smith," t-imply, the title reverted 
to the grantor when Smith died ; and to get a fee-simple the 
conveyance was made to '' John Smith and his heirs." 

The use of the word " grant " in a fee-simple conveyance in 



LAW. 423 

California, implies and covenants that tlie grantor lias not pre- 
viously conveyed his title or any part of it to any other per- 
son, or encumbered it in any way ; in other words, he cove- 
nants that tlie title is as good as when he got it. The grant 
title is equivalent to the " bargain and sale " title, which was 
in general use before 1873. Warranty conveyances have 
never been extensively used in California. 

§ 351. Tenure of Land. — Most of the land in California 
is owned by the Federal Government, which acquired it from 
Mexico by treaty. This Federal land lies in the mineral re- 
gions, and in all the unsettled districts of the State. Most of 
it has been surveyed, and with the exception of land in the 
mineral districts, is oiFered to homestead settlers, in lots of 
forty acres, or tracts of any size of which forty is a multiple, 
not exceeding 160 acres. 

Most of the land held in private ownership in the State, is 
under grants made by Mexico previous to 1846, Of these 
grants there are eight hundred and thirteen, covering a total 
of 9,828,181 acres. Of these claims, about one hundred and 
fifty, covering about 3,000,000 acres, have been finally rejected, 
and some are as yet undecided. The grants were for large 
tracts called ranchos, intended to be used chiefiy or ex- 
clusively for pasturage, and the average size was about 12,- 
000 acres, or three square leagues. The grants were made, 
not by the acre or by the mile, but by the square league, con- 
taining 4,438 acres and a fraction, or, to be precise, 4,438.683 
acres. Every ranch had its name, for it was a kind of princi- 
pality ; and these names have in many cases been transferred to 
towns and townships under the American dominion. 

The common tenure of land in California is fee-simple. 
Such conditional tenures as are common in Europe are very 
rare hei'e, and many of them are prohibited by our laws. We 
have few life estates, nor is any lease or limited conveyance of 
land good for a longer period than ten years, unless it be a 
town lot, and then the limit is twenty years. All conveyances 



424 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

of real estate are placed upou record in a Government office, 
and without si;cli record they are not valid as against persons 
not parties to the conveyance, and not informed of its exist- 
ence. 

§ 352. Separate Property. — The property owned by either 
the husband or wife before marriage, and by gift, bequwt, or 
inheritance after marriage, belongs to each separately ; and 
the property acquired after marriage by other means than 
gift, bequest, or inheritance, is common property, belonging in 
equal shares to both. The husband, however, has sole control 
of it. The wife has no right of dower, and the husband lias 
sole control of the common property, and may sell, without 
the consent of the wife, any of it except tlie homestead ; a 
deed or mortgage for wliich, without lier signature and seal, is 
absolutely void. The husband cannot convey liis interest un- 
less she conveys her interest at the same time. " The wife 
may, without the consent of her husband, convey her separate 
property." That is the language of the Code, and it implies 
that she can lease, repair, give valid receipts for rent, bring 
suit for the protection of her title, and do other acts that re- 
quire less |)Ower than does a sale. 

§ 353, llining Claims. — All valuable mineral deposits on 
land belonging to the United States, surveyed or unsurveyed, 
are free and open to exploration and working without charge, 
and also to purchase by any citizen, or any foreigner who has 
declared his intention to become a citizen. Aliens have no 
right to take up mining claims or to purchase land from tlie 
Goverimient, but they can hold by valid title when they pur- 
chase from citizens. Alining claims shall be governed by the 
conditions prescribed in State or Territorial legislation, or if 
there be none, then of the regulations adopted by the miners 
of the district ; but no claim must exceed fifteen hundred feet 
in length, whetlier taken up by a person or a company, nor 
shall the width be more than thi-ee hundred feet, or less than 
twenty -five feet on each side of any lode. 



LAW. 425 

§ 354. Titles to Mines. — Any person or company holdiug 
a valid claim to a lode mine, after sj^ending $500 in working 
it, may obtain a perfect title to it, by patent, from the Federal 
Land Office, on paying for the survey and for the land at the 
rate of $5 per acre. The survey shoiild not follow' the rectan- 
gular lines adopted in the agricultural districts, and should in- 
clude only the claim. Titles for tracts not exceeding five 
acres, used for mills or dumps, may also be obtained by 
patent. Titles for placers may be obtained in rectangular 
tracts not less than ten acres in size, conforming to the gen- 
eral system of surveys ; and no patent shall cover more than 
160 acres of mineral land. The patent issues only to the 
bolder of a valid placer mining claim, who has spent $500 in 
working it, and he must pay $2.50 an acre for it. 

Grants of land by Mexico did not carry any title to the 
minerals under the law of that country ; but the patents based 
on Mexican grants issued by the United States convey the ab- 
solute ownership of all the minerals. 

Title to water can be acquired by appi'opriation to a useful 
purpose, at least of all the water on land belonging to the 
Federal Government. 

§ 355. Lmos Favorable to Debtors. — The laws of Califor- 
nia relating to the collection of debts are very favorable to the 
debtor. His homestead, the property owned by his wife pre- 
vious to marriage, that given to her afterward, his household 
furniture to the value of two hundred dollars, bis tools, if a 
mechanic, his horse and wagon, if a teamster, and his li- 
brary, if a lawyer, ai-e exempt from execution. A married 
man, a widow or widower with children, or any head of a 
family, is entitled to a homestead worth five thousand dollars, 
secure against creditors. An unmarried person may have a 
homestead worth one thousand dollars. Such laws may pre- 
vent much oppression of poor people, but they also pi'otect 
and encourage much rascality. A man may own a homestead 
worth five thousand dollars, and that may include a very ele- 



426 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

gant dwelling. His household furniture, worth as mucli more, 
may have been presented by some friend to his wife after mar- 
riage. She may have a separate estate of one hundred thou- 
sand dollars, and may derive an annual income of ten or 
twenty thousand dollars from it, and both may live in an ex- 
travagant style, and yet creditors have no hold upon him 
whatever. There is no imprisonment for debt, except in cases 
of fraud, which it is almost impossible to prove. In many 
ways the debtor is fenced about, so that the laws seem to have 
been devised by men who had had experience in swindling 
creditors, and wished to secure themselves against trouble in 
the future. 

The laws of California, like the customs and trade, do not 
favor the perpetuation of wealth in families. Tliere is no 
right of primogeniture. All children inlierit equally. The 
eldest son gets no more than the youngest. Public opin- 
ion runs with the law. The rich man who expressed an 
intention to give all his property to liis eldest son, merely be- 
cause of his seniority, would be hated. Entails are forbidden. 
How different is all this from the state of affairs in Europe ! 
There, at least in some countries, all the property goes to the 
eldest son ; property is entailed in the family for many genera- 
tions ; the debtor is subject to imprisonment ; thei'e is no re- 
lease for insolvents ; the property of the woman is by marriage 
vested absolutely in the husband, and does not revert by in- 
heritance to her blood relatives by her death ; the limitations 
for commencing law-suits are very long, and sales, if not 
made at the market price, or contracts, if made so tliat one 
party a])pears to have obtained an advantage of the other, 
may be rescinded. The habits and opinions of the people 
give strength to their laws ; and wealth once in a family is 
almost as certain to be transmitted through many generations 
by inheritance in Europe, as its loss in the second or tliird gen- 
eration is certain in the new States of America. 



TOPOGRAPHICAL NAMES. 427 



CHAPTER XIV. 
TOPOGRAPHICAL NAMES. 

§ 356. Neto Names. — The topographical names of Cali- 
fornia dilier much from those of other States in the Union, 
where tliere is a disagreeable repetition of familiar names. 
Our people have not attempted to immortalize Franklin, Jef- 
ferson, Madison, Adams, Henry, Randolph, Clay, Cass, Ben- 
ton, Webster, Taylor, Fillmore, Polk, Pierce, or Buchanan, by 
affixing their tiresome patronymics to counties or towns. All 
our prominent places are designated by titles comparatively 
new to the English language. 

The topographical names of the State are derived from three 
languages — Spanish, English, and Indian. The names along 
the southern coast and about the Bay of San Francisco — dis- 
tricts wliich were populated by the Spaniards long before the 
Americans came to the country — are chiefly Spanish. The 
larger rivers in the Sacramento basin were known to the 
Spaniards, and were named by them jjrevious to 1846. The 
mining districts of the Sierra Nevada and the Klamatli basin, 
and tlie coast north of 40°, were first explored and settled by 
the Americans, and therefore the names are of English origin. 
The Indian names are numerous. 

§ 357. Sacred Spanish Names. — The Spanish names may 
be divided into the sacred and profane. The first Spanish set- 
tlers were Catholic missionaries, in whose almanac every day 



428 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

is named after some saint, and in wliose faith the saints were 
but little below divinity. It was customary for them to keep 
the saints constantly in mind, and when they came to a 
strange place, to name it after the saint upon whose day they 
had reached it. Thus it is that nearly all the settlements 
made by or under the missionaries are sanctified. 

The male saints have " San," the females " Santa" to pre- 
cede their Cln-istian names, as in English we have " Saint." 
Some uneducated Americans corrupt the " San " or " Santa " 
before certain Spanish names into " Saint," and say " Saint 
Francisco." Bat the more intelligent Americans adhere to 
the Spanish spelling, and generally to the i)ronujicialion. The 
(I g j> jj^ u San^" however, is usually pronounced like the " a " 
in the English " fat," while the Spanish sound is more like 
that in " far," and the last " s " in " San Jose " and " Santa 
Rosa," is ordinarily given like an English " z " rather than a 
Si:)anish " s." 

The Missions were all named from saints or sacred dogmas. 
There are San Miguel, San Gabriel, and San Rafael (from the 
three archangels, Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael), San Juan 
Bautista and San Juan Gapistrano (St. John the Baptist and 
St. John of Cajjistrano), San Francisco de Assisi and San 
Francisco de Solano, San Luis Rey and San Luis Obispo (St. 
Louis the king and St. Louis the bishop), San Garlo.-=, Santa 
Clara, Santa Barbara, San Jose (St. Joseph), Santa Inez Vir- 
gen y Martyr (St. Inez the virgin and martyr), San Antonio 
de Padua (St. Anthony), San Fernando Rey (St. Ferdinand 
the king), San Buenaventura, La Purisima Concepcion (the 
Most Pure Conception), Nuestra Seiiora de Soledad (our 
Lady of Solitude), San Diego (St. James), and Santa Cruz 
(the Holy Cross). 

Among the saints whose names are applied to places not 
missions, are San Pedro (Peter), San Pablo (Paul), San Mateo 
(Matthew), San Andres (Andrew), San Marcos (^lark), San 
Simeon, San Joaquin (Joachim), San Nicolas, San Clemente, 



TOPOGRAPHICAL NAMES. 429 

San Lorenzo (Lawrence), San Leanclro (Leander), San Pascual, 
San llanion, San Felipe (Philip), San Cayetano (Cnyetan), 
Santa Marta (Martha), Santa Maria, Santa Paula (Pauline), 
Santa Rosa, Santa Isabel, Santa Margarita, Santa Catalina, 
Santa Susana, Santa Lucia, and Santa Gertrudis. Other Span- 
ish sacred names, not derived from saints, are Trinidad 
(Trinity), Sacramento (Sacrament), Jesus Maria (Jesus the 
Son of Mary), and Nuestra Senora La Reina de los Angeles 
(Our Lady the Queen of the Angels). 

§ 358, Profane Spanish Names. — Among the Spanish pro- 
fane names are Agua Fria (cold water), Agua Caliente (hot 
water, or warm spring), Vallecito (little valley), Esperanza 
(hope), Campo Seco (dry tield), Garrote, Hornitos (little oven), 
Salinas (salt places), Alameda (an avenue of elms or cotton- 
wood trees), Saucelito (a little clump of willows, mure j)roperly 
spelled Sauzalito),Laguua Seca (dry lagoon), Cienega (puddle), 
Mei'ced (mercy), Buena Yista (good view). Contra Costa (the 
opposite coast, the shore opposite the bay of Sau Francisco), 
Del Norte (of the north), Plumas (feathers), Tulare (a place of 
tules), El Dorado (the golden land), Fresno (ash), Nevada 
(snowy). Sierra (mountain chain), Placer (g*'ld dig;;ings), 
Calaveras (skulls), Mariposa (butterfly), Alcatraz (pelican), 
Farallones (points of rock in the sea), Corte Madera (place 
where wood is cut), Monte (the mountain or forest), Loma 
Prieta (black hill), Monte Diablo (the devil's mountain), 
Montecito (little mountain or little forest). Alamo (elm or Cot- 
tonwood tree). Alamo Mocho (the cropped cotton w uod), Pajaro 
(bird). Coyote, and Tejon (a badger). Some of these names 
have been changed by the Americans. The Spaniards say, 
el Rio de las Mariposas (the river of the butterflies), el Rio de 
las Calaveras, el Rio de los Pajaros, la Isla de las Alcatraces, 
la Bahia de San Francisco (the bay of San Francisco), La 
Mision de San Gabriel (the Mission of San Gabriel), el Rio de 
las SaUnas. The Atnericans drop the common Spanish nouns 
of rio, bahia, and }7iision, and say Calaveras River, Salinas 



430 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

River, the Mission San Gabriel, etc. Though the phiral form 
of Calaveras and Salinas has been preserved, the singular has 
been adopted for Pdjaro River, Alcatraz Island, and Coyote 
Creek. Pajaro River was so named because of the great 
number of wild geese and ducks which were formerly seen 
in its valley. Bodega was named after a Spanish navi- 
gator on this Coast ; Cape JMendocino after the noble pat- 
ron of another. Amador County and Amador Valley were 
named after Jos^ M. Amador, who was manager of the prop- 
erty of the Mission of San Jose, about 1835. lie lived in Am- 
ador Valley, and in 1848 he went with a number of Indians to 
mine in what is now Amador County. Vallejo, Pacheco, 
Martinez, and Alvarado, are the names of prominent men 
among the Spanish Californians. Some Spanish names have 
been changed into English. Tlie American River was formerly 
called el liio de los Americanos, because the Americans enter- 
ing California visually came down the banks of that stream. 
The Feather River was called el Mio de las Plumas, the river 
of feathers. The " Plumas," after having been abandoned as 
a designation for the river, was given to the county in which 
it takes its rise. Angel Island was called la Isla de los 
Angeles, and Mare Island was called la Isla de las Yegiias. 
The town of Benicia was laid off" in 1846, and was first called 
" Fraucesca," one of the Christian names of the wife of M. G. 
Vallejo, on whose land the town was to be built ; but in Janu- 
ary, 1847, the name of the town of Yerba Buena was changed 
to San Francisco, and the projector of Benicia, Mr. Charles 
D. Semple, thought it necessary, for the purpose of avoiding 
confusion, to change the name of his city on paper, so he 
adopted " Benicia," another name of Mrs. Vallejo. The town 
of Sonora was so named because the majority of the first 
miners there were from Sonora. The New Almaden quicksil- 
ver mine, for some months after the nature of the ore was 
discovered, was called la Mina de Santa Clara. Its present 
name was derived from the great quicksilver mine of Alma- 
den, in old Spain. 



TOPOGRAPHICAL NAMES. ' 431 

§ 359. Indian Names. — The Indian names in California 
are numerous. Among them are Siskiyou, Klamatli, Shasta, 
Tehattia, Colusa, Yolo, Napa, Sonoma, Mokelumue, Tuolumne, 
Inyo, Mono, Chowchilla, Cahuilla, Tahoe, Saticoy, Ilueneme 
(called also Wynema), Suscol, Suisun, Cosumnes, Temecula, 
Temascal, Jurupa, Petaluma, Tomales, Yreka, Ukiah, Cuy- 
ama, Cocomonga, Mayacmas, Bolbones, Guilicos, Huichica, 
and Hoopah. Most of these are the names of tribes of In- 
dians, The Mokelumne, Tuolumne, Chowchilla, and Cosum- 
nes Rivers were called by the Spaniards el Rio de los Moque- 
lumnes, el Rio de los Tuolumues, etc. The second syllable ot 
Moquelumne was changed by the Americans, to be spelled 
with a Z;, which has the same sound as qu before e in Spanish. 
Cahuilla is sometimes vulgarly spelled "Kaweah" by Ameri- 
cans, who thus represent the Spanish pronunciation as nearly 
as possible. Klamath and Sliasta were formerly written " Tla- 
math" and " Tshastl." Sonoma, by some persons written 
" Zonoma" in early times, is an Indian word meaning " valley 
of the moon." Temascal means an Indian sweat-house. So- 
lano is a Spanish word meaning the south wind, but Solano 
County was so called after the chief of the Suisun tribe of 
Indians. I have not been able to learn whether his name was 
given to him by the Spaniards, or was of Indian origin. 
Mariu County was also named after an Indian chief Yreka 
is a corruption of Wi-e-kah, which means white, and is the In- 
dian name of Mount Shasta, at the foot of which the town is 
situated. 

§ 360. American Names. — Now we come to the American 
names. Towns are named after Jackson, Washington, Lafay- 
ette, and Stockton (the last was in command of the American 
navy on this Coast during the Mexican war) . The patronym- 
ics of Alexander Humboldt, J. A. Sutter, Kern, and Peter 
Lassen, are affixed to counties. Trinity River was so named 
because the white man who discovered it in the raoiuitains 
supposed it emptied into the bay of Trinidad, which had been 



432 * KESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

discovered by the Spaniards several centuries ago. Marysville 
was lirst called Yubaville, and then named after Mrs. Mary 
Covillaud, one of the founders of the place. Among the 
pioneer miners of Calaveras County were Murphy, Angel, and 
Carson, and they became the eponyms of the places where they 
stopped, first called Murphy's Camp, Angel's Camp, and 
Carson's Camp, now become permanent towns, which liave 
discarded the " camp," and assumed the titles, " Murphy's," 
" Angel's," etc. It is better to drop tlie 6^ and the apostrophe, 
as is sometimes done. " Yankee Jim's Camp" — the surname 
of "Jim" was never known to the general public — is now 
simply Yankee Jim, Messrs. Dovvnie, Weaver, and Heald 
were tlie respective eponyms of Downieville, Weaverville, and 
Healdsburg ; and Folsom, Gilroy, and HoUister were named 
after the owners of the respective ranches on which they were 
laid out. The knowledge or supposition of rich diggings is 
indicated by some of the names of towns, as Ophir, Gold Hill, 
Quartzburg, Placerville, Oroville, Rich Bar, and Tin Cup. 
Placerviile was, in 1849, called Ilangtown, because it was the 
first place wliere any person was hanged by Lynch law. Oroville 
is a compound of oro, the Spanish word for gold, and ville, 
the French word for city. Tin Cup was so named because 
the first miners there found the ])lacers so rich that tliey meas- 
sured tlieir gold in pint tin cups. Many of the bars and camps 
in the mining disti'icts are named after the discoverers or first 
settlers. There are Scott's Bar, Long's Bar, Kelly's Bar, 
Kanaka Bar, Negro Bar, Chinese Camp, etc. Other places 
are named from the native places of the first settlers, as Mis- 
sissippi Jjar, Oliio Bar, Iowa Hill, Michigan BlutFs, lUinoistown, 
Alleghanytuwn, etc. Pine Log is so named because there was, 
in early times, at that place a pine log across the South Fork of 
the Stanislaus Kiver, in sucli a position as to ofier a very con- 
venient crossing to miners. Some of the mining camps are 
named from the tragic events which occurred there : thus, 
there is a Murderer's Bar, a Dead Man's Bar, and a Dead Shot 



TOPOGRAPHICAL NAMES. 



433 



Flat. The followiny is a list of some curious names of mining 
localities : 



Jim Crow Canon, 
Red Dog, 
Jackass GuL;h, 
Ladies' Canon, 
Miller's Djfeat, 
Loafer Hill, 
Rattlesnake B.ir, 
"^Tiisky Bar, 
Poverty Hill, 
Greasers' Camp, 
Christian Hat, 
Rough and Rearly, 
Ragtown, 
Sugar-Loaf Hill, 
Poker Flat, 
Wild-Cat Bar, 
Dead Mule Caiion, 
Wild Goose Flat, 
Brandy Flat, 
Gridiron Bar, 
Hen-roost Camp, 
Lousy Ravine, 
Lazy Man s Canon, 
Logtown, 
Git-up-and-git, 
Gopher Flat, 
Bob Ridley Flat, 
One Eye, 
Push-coach Hill, 
Puppytown, 
Mad Canon, 
Happy Valley, 
Hell's Delight, 



D'vil's Basin, 
D ad Wood, 
Gouge Eye, 
Puke Ravine, 
Slap-Jack Bar, 
Quack Hill, 
P ■pp3rbox Flat, 
Ni^'-ger Hill, 
S ven+y-six. 
Pi ty Hill, 
Hogs Diggings, 
Brandy Gulch, 
Liberty Hill, 
Love-Letter Camp, 
Piradise, 

Blue Belly Ravine, 
Bin ice Fork, 
bh in bone Peak, 
S ven^up Ravine, 
Loafer's Retreat, 
Humpback Slide, 
fcjwellhead Diggings, 
Coyote Hill, 
Poodletown, 
Yankee Doodle, 
Horsetown, 
Petticoat Slide, 



Last Chance, 
Greenhorn Canon, 
Shanghai Hill, 
Shirt-tail Canon, 
Skunk Guli;li, 
Coon Hollow, 
Poor Man s Creek, 
Humbug Canon, 
Bloomer Hill, 
Grizzly Flat, 
Rat-trap Slide, 
Pike Hill, 
Port Wine, 
Snow Point, 
Nary Rod, 
Gas Hill, 
Ladies' Valley, 
Graveyard Canon, 
Gospal Gulch, 
Cliicken-Thiof Flat, 
Hungry Camp, 
Mud Springs, 
Skindint, 

American Hollow, 
Gold Hill, 
Pancake Ravine, 
Centipede Hollow, 



Chucklehead Diggings, Nutcake Camp, 
Mount Zion, Seven-by-nine Valley, 

Barefoot Diggings, Paint-Pot Hill, 

Plug-head Gulch, Gospel Swamp. 

Ground Hogs' Glory, 
Bogus Thunder, 



The Legislature in 1864 granted a franchise for the construc- 
tion of a toll-road from Pokerville to Fiddletown in Amador 
County, 

Butte County was named from the buttes or high lulls on its 
border. Cache Creek was so called because some trappers 
28 



434 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

buried or cached sometl)iiig on its banks many years ago. 
Butte and cache are words of French origin, introduced into 
the Eiiglisli language by trappers. 

Anaiieim is derived from Ana the Spanisli for Ann, and the 
German word hehn^ meaning hdme — and tlie compound means 
Anna's home. The Ana was suggested by the Santa Ana 
Valley, in which Anaheim is built. 

§ 3G1. Etymology of Califomia. — The name " California," 
first used in an obscure Spanish novel, ZiCts Sergas de B.^jy/an- 
dian, published in 1510, was there applied to an i^■land " on 
the right hand of the Indies near the Terrestrial Paradise." 
Twenty-five years later Cortez discovered the peninsiila, and 
gave it the name of California. After 1769, the Spanish Gov- 
ernment recognized two Califoniias, Vieja or Baja, (old or 
low) California, and Nueca or Alta, (new or higli) Califor- 
nia. Tlie latter was conquered by the Americans in 1846, and 
was called " Alta California," until after the gold discovery, 
and then simply " California," when the peninsula fell into rel- 
ative insignificance. The State Constitution, framed in 1849, 
commences, " We, the people of California," etc. This, there- 
fore, is the California, and the peninsula south of us is not 
meant or thought of, unless we use the adjective prefix, and 
say "Lower California." " Southern . California " usually 
means that part of American California south of latitude 
34° 30'. 

§ 362. Prwxunciation of Names. — In the pronunciation 
of the names of Spanish and Indian origin, the letters have 
usually the Spanish sounds. A is like " a " in far ; e like " a " 
in fare ; i like " ee " in meet ; o like " o " in go ; u like " oo " 
in fool. _£ris silent \ j and g, befoi*e e and «, Have a sound 
similar to that of the English " h " ; s never has the sound of 
2, but is always like " ss " in hiss. Qu, before e and i, is like " k." 
Z/, is like " Hi" in William ; n is like " ni " in union. There 
are no diphthongs in Spanish. Every vowel is sounded sepa- 
rately. Words ending in a vowel in the singular have the.ac- 



TOPOGRAPHICAL NAMES. 



436 



cent on tlie syllable next the last ; tliose ending in a consonant, 
on tlie last. In case any vowel lias an accent marked over it, 
then that vowl'1 has the accent. Tlie Spaniards of old Spain 
pronounce tlie z btfore all vowels, and the c before e and 
2, like " th " in thick ; but the Mexicans give them the sound 
of s. 

The errors which Americans most frequently commit in 
pronouncing; Spanish words are, in giving to a the English 
sounds of " a " in fat and fate ; giving to s the sound of " z " ; 
to 7 and ,7, before e and *', the same sounds as in English ; to 
gu the sound of the English " w " ; and in putting the accent 
on tlie first syllable — English fashion. Tlie following may 
serve as a further guide to the jiruper pronunciation of some 
of the names : 

SPANISH NAMES AND PUONUNCIATIONS. 



Die<jo — dee ;1y go. 

Suisun — soo ee soon. 

ALnnoda — uh lah m.'iy da. 

Sierra — see er ra. 

Nevada — nay vah dah. 

Mateo — mah tay o. 

Monterey — mon ta r;1y ee. 

Luis Obispo — loo 6ss o bees po. 

Los An^-eL:S — lohs ahn hel es. 

Vall'jjo — val y.iy ho. 

Vallecito — val yay thee to. 

Joaquin — ho ah ke>^n. 

Juan Bautista — hwahn bah oo t6es- 

tah. 
Tamalpais— tah mal pice. 
Nietos — nee ;iy tos. 

This table is not a perfect guide to pronunciation, but only 
an approximation. 

Placer has been anglicized so much that it is commonly 
spoken with the accent on the first syllable. Mokelumme and 
Tuolumne have the accent on the antepenultimate, and the 
vowel short. Siskiyou has the accent on the tirst syllable. 



Napa — nah pah. 

Jose — ho say. 

.Jesus Maria — hay edos mah roe ah. 

Puta — poo tah. 

Tejon — tay hone. 

Farallones — fah rahl y6 nee. 

Gabriel — gah bree ,ale. 

Rafael — rah fah .-ile. 

Miguel — mee gale. 

P.ijaro— pah hah ro. 

Coyote — CO yo tay. 

Pacheco — pah chay co. 

Cahuilla — cah oo eel ya. 

HuL'ueine — way nay may. 

Dos Pueblos— dohs pway blo3. 



436 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

Sutter is pronounced with the u like " oo " in foot. Mokel- 
umne is often mispronounced " Mac al a m}'," and the Cosum- 
nes Kiver is not unfrequently called the Macosme. Folsom 
is pronounced like the adjective fulsome. Yosemite lias four 
syllables with the accent on the antepenultimate (Yo f-em i te). 
San Kafael is usually called " San Rah fell," Tehama " Te- 
hay ma." 

§ 3 63. Erroneous S2y€lling. — The maps issued by the Federal 
Surveyor General's office have abounded with errors of spell- 
ing, chargeable to gross ignorance and carelessness. The 
publications of the State Geological Survey have a iem. 
Whitney writes " Tamal Pais " instead of Tamalpais, and 
" Hetch-hetchy" instead of Iletchhetchy. Tiie liyphen in 
Indian names is an absurdity, and has been abandoned in 
Tecumseh and Yosemite, and other words in common use. 
" Pais " in Spanish means county, and Marin County was 
formerly occupied by the Tanial tribe of Indians, and there- 
fore it is supposed that the mountain should, out of respect for 
the Spanish language, be called " Tamal Pais." But tlie Spani- 
ards united the two words, and instead of using />«/s se[iarately, 
they would say ^^ el pais de los Tamales.^^ A common error 
of writers ignorant of Spani>h is to say " the sierras," Tljis, as 
applied to the Sierra Nevada, is equivalent to spt aking of the 
Rocky Mountain Chains. There is only one sierra iu California. 



CONCLUSION. 437 



CHAPTER XV. 

CONCLUSION. 

§ 364, General ^nnmary. — Twelve chapters of this book 
have been filled with a detailed statement of tlie nature and 
characteristics of the resources, industry, trade, and society of 
Califorxia. In tins chapter, I shall present a summary of 
their main features. 

We have, then, before us a State lying in the raidst of the 
temperate zone, on tlie western coast of North America; 
bounded on one side by the Pacific Ocean, and on the other 
by a high range of mountains ; reaching through nine degrees 
of longitude and ten of latitude; with a coast-line 1,097 miles 
long, and a total area of about one hundred and sixty thou- 
sand square miles. The heart of the State is drained by two 
large rivers, which run from north and south, unite midway, 
and in tlieir course to the sea form three large and deep bays, 
with secure and spacious harbors. On these bays and their 
tributaries, there are nearly one thousand miles of navigable 
Btreams now used by steamboats and sailing-vessels. 

The climate near the ocean is the most equable in the world. 
At San Francisco, there is a difference of only seven degrees 
between the mean temperatures of summer and winter— the 
average of the latter season being 50° and of the former o?" 
Fahrenheit. Ice and snow are never seen in winter; and in 
summer the weather is so cool, that heavy woolen cli^thing is 



438 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

worn every day. There are not more tliau a dozen days in 
the year too warm fur comfort at mid-day, and the oldest 
iuliabitant cannot remember a night when blankets were not 
necessary for a comfortable sleep. The climate is just of that 
character most favorable to the constant mental and idiysieal 
activity of men, and to the unvarying health and continuous 
growth of animals and plants. In tlie interior, the summers 
are much warmer than near the ocean ; while in the moun- 
tains the winters are much colder. By traveling a i\'\v hun- 
dred miles, the Californian can lind almost any temperature 
that he may desire — great warmth in winter, and icy coldness 
in summer. 

The rocks of this State are chiefly granite and slate in the 
Sierra Nevada, and cretaceous and tertiary sandstone in the 
Coast Range and valleys. Veins of auriferous quartz are 
numerous in the State near the gi'anite, and they have sup- 
plied by erosion the gold now found in the placers or alluvial 
workings. Gold has been found in nearly every county ; but 
the districts which are or have beeii rich in auriferous de- 
posits, cover an area of 10,000 square miles. The annual 
gold yield of California is about $20,000,000. 

The gold-mining of California is conducted in tlie most 
thorough and enterprising manner. Although the main prin- 
ciples of the sluice and the hydraulic washing were known 
and used, on a small scale, long before the discovery of gold 
in California, it was here that those modes of working were 
first perfected, applied on an extensive scale, and brought into 
universal use. Large rivers are turned out of their beds ; 
mountains are pierced by tunnels ; hills are washed away ; 
and the rivers roll thick with mud to the sea through summer 
and winter. 

The State has rich and productive mines of silver and quick- 
silver ; valuable beds of borax, sulphur, asphaltum, and fire 
clay ; and numerous mineral springs of powerful medicinal 
qualities. 



CONCLUSION. 439 

Tlie natural scenery of California is varied and grand. The 
Yosemite Valley is a cliasm ten miles long, a mile wide, and 
three thousand feet deep, in tl>e lieart of tlie Sierra Nevada, 
witliont its equal in the world for sublime and picturesque 
scenery. It lias a dozen great cascades, the highest of which 
has a fall of thirteen hundred feet. The Mammoth Trees 
are the largest growths of the vegetable kingdom. There 
are likewise in the State mud-volcanoes, natural bridges, 
many caves, and numerous hot and mineral springs, some of 
whicli throw out great columns of steam. The Calif irnian 
Alps have a hundred' peaks that rise to an elevation of more 
than 10,000 feet, and contain much scenery equaling, if not 
surpassing, any ia Switzerland. Mt. Shasta is grande>t of 
all the high, snow-covered volcanic peaks conveniently acces- 
sible to travel ; and it has a great glacier. The view from 
Mt. Diablo is unjiaralleled for the richness and beauty of the 
country distinctly visible. 

The animals and plants of California are peculiar to our 
coast. The finest grouj) of coniferous trees in the world is 
that of this State. The mammoth tree, the redwood, the 
sugar-pine, the red fir, the yellow fir, and the arhor vitcB, all 
reach the wonderful height of three hundred feet ; the mam- 
moth tree grows to be thirty feet in diameter, the redwood 
twenty, and the others from eight to twelve. 

Tlie grizzly bear is the largest and strongest indigenous 
animal of the continent ; and the Californian vulture is, next 
to the condor, the largest bird that files, Tiie sea near our 
coast teems with halibut, turbot, mackerel, herring, sardines, 
anchovies, and smelts ; while sturgeon and salmon are abun- 
dant in our rivers. 

Farmers in California have many advantages over men of 
the same occupation in other parts of the United States. The 
winter is never so cold as to interrupt their work, and tliere 
are no storms of rain and hail to destroy tlieir grain and ruin 
their hay. They need no barns. Barley thrives better than 



440 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

in any otlier part of the world. The soil and climate are also 
particularly favorable to the growth of wlieat, wliich unites 
the valuable qualities of whiteness, dryness, and ghitinous- 
ness, to a greater degree than any otlier wheat in tlie world. 
Our average crops are larger than in any other jjlace where 
manure is not used extensively. Tiie yield of hojts is large, 
and tlie facilities for drying them, so as to preserve their 
strength, are better than in any otlier land wliere they are 
cultivated. Ouc kitchen vegetables grow to an unpavalleled 
size. Nowhere else have pumpkins been seen ti) reacli two 
hundred and fifty pounds in weight each, beets one hundred and 
twenty pounds, white turnips twenty-six pounds, solid-headed 
cabbages seventy-five pounds, carrots ten jiounds, water-mel- 
ons sixty-five pounds, onions forty-seven ounces, Irish potatoes 
seven pounds, sweet potatoes fifteen pounds, and so forth. Some 
cabbages and beets have spontaneously become perennials here, 
continuing to grow from year to year, and n-maining green 
throughout winter and summer; and many of our kitchen 
vegetables might be converted into perennials by preventing 
them from going to seed. 

The abundance, excellence, and variety of our fruit astonish 
the stranger, though he may have cunie fr im the markets of 
London or New York, which draw tribute from whole hemi- 
spheres. No market on the globe surjia^ses ours in variety, 
yet only twenty years since we began to import fruit trees di- 
rect from the Eastern States and Europe. Our mild winters 
permit the trees to grow during nine or ten months in the 
year, and the}^ grow more rapidly, and reach maturity more 
speedily, than in any other country where they are so healthy, 
and bear so abundantly. The pear and a])ple trees which were 
planted by the missimiaries thirty or f rty years ago, are still 
in [lerfect health, and some of them produce as much as a ton 
of fruit to the tree every year. The ajjple and pear seem to 
have found here their most congenial clime. There are no 
6VX)rms in our apples ; no curculios in our plums or cherries ; 



CONCLUSION. 441 

no Hessian fly or weevil in our wlieat. The olive and the fig 
grow luxuriantly beside tlie apple and the ])ear. We can pro- 
duce olives better than any of the olive-pri)diicing regions of 
the Mediterranean, because we liave none of those storms of 
tliunder and liail and rain, whicli frequently destroy the crops 
in soutlKMii Europe and Asia Minor. The vine produces more 
abundantly than in any jiart of Europe, and the crop lias sel- 
dom faiU'd or been destroyed here, as often hai>])ens tliere. A 
yield of one thou>and gallons of wine to the acre is as frequent, 
proportionately, in California, as of four hundred in France or 
Germany. Our ganlens are, in time, to be the most beautiful 
in the world, resplendent with conifers and deciduous trees, 
Avith the flowers of the temperate zone, and the luxurious plants 
of the tropics. The shrubs, which in New Yurk remain small, 
and live only imder shelter as delicate exotics, are naturalized 
in San Francisco, grow almost to tree-like size, remain green 
throughout the year, and bloom during most of the months. 
Tiie rosebush is covered with flowers from January to Decem- 
ber. 

Domestic hei'bivorous animals live and increase without 
shelter, and without cultivated food. Tiiey reach their full 
growth a year earlier than in the Eastern States. The absence 
of extreme cold gives them a more rapid growth, and exemp- 
tion from many diseases. Sheep produce more wool, are 
healthier, increase more rapidly, and are kept at far less cost 
in California than in any American State east of the Rocky 
Mountains. Bees increase more rajtidly, and make more 
honey here than there is any record of their doing elsewhere. 
Thunder and rain storms kill a large proportion of the silk- 
worms in Italy, France, Turkey, and China every year; in 
the valleys of California we never have any lightning, and no 
rain during the season when the silk-worms feed. 

The wages of labor in California are higher than in any 
other part of the world. Mechanics' wages are generally 
from two dollars and fifty cents to four dollars per day ; com- 



442 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 

mon laborers, from one dollar and seventy-five cents to two 
dollars and fifty cents per day ; farm laborers, and men and 
maid servants, from twenty to thirty dollars per month. Our 
imports and exports of treasure are larger in ])ropo tion to our 
population than those pf any other State. Our chief city has 
an extensive foreign trade and commerce, and it has an un- 
doubted supremacy in the commerce of the eastern shore of 
the Pacific. 

§ 36"). Shic Growth. — With many drawbacks, which have 
been set forth clearly and unreservedly, Calif irnia is one of 
the richest parts of the globe. It posse>;ses most of the lux- 
uries of Europe, and many of the advantages wliich tlie Val- 
ley of the Oliio had forty years ago. It offers an open career 
to talents. In a few years of its liistory it has a-tonislied the 
world, and its chief glories are still to come. Tne arts, the 
sciences, the refinements of life, are to find a favored home in 
California. 

Wliy is it then that the permanent po]n;lation of the State - 
has not increased more rapidly ? Why did so many of the 
early immigrants leave her shores, never to return, by their 
departure depriving her of the greate>t element of wealth ? 
TJie great cause was the mismanagement of land-titles, in 
both the agricultural and- mineral regions, by the Federal 
Government ; and myriads of men, unable to secure homes, 
went to the Eastern States, where they coukl find permanent 
residences. 

The unsettled condition of society here, resulting from the 
insecurity of land-titles, tlie great expense of bringing families 
from the Eastern States, the uncertainty of the crojjs in the 
drier valleys, the scarcity of irrigating canals and of reclama- 
tion dikes, all contributed to prevent such an increase of jtopu- 
lation as the natural resources of the State, if properly de- 
veloped, would have de/nanded. 

§ 366. The Future. — The growth of California must be 
constant, and her future great and glorious. If sky and earth 



CONCLUSION. 443 

and man remain the same, her attractions cannot be neglect- 
ed. Her progress may be relatively slow, until some of her 
large, dry valleys shall be provided with irrigation, and until 
her tule lands shall have been secixrely reclaimed ; but so soon 
as extensive areas, now unfit for secure tillage, on account of 
the lack or the excess of water, shall have been protected 
against fiood and drouth, there will be a rapid increase in her 
population and wealth, and a decided improvement in the 
character of her industry. She can and she will sustain a 
jjopulation of twenty millions. 



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Ilroafl Laifls in 



-~4 -»—»•■*'> 



The Central Pacific and Southern Pacific Railroad Companies have 
laud grants direct from the U. S. Government, including wheat, farm- 
ing, frnit, grazing, dairy and timber lands, equal to the best in America, 
and adapted to all purposes of profitable agriculture, and will sell the 
same in tracts of forty acres, or upwards, at prices ranging from $2.50 
to $20 per acre, according to quality and situation. 

These lands extend the entire length of California and across the 
State of Nevada, and — excepting the tracts reserved by Government 
and those to which a valid homestead or pre-emption right had attached 
prior to the date of the grant — comprise all the vacant odd-numbered 
sections within twenty miles on each side of the main line of the Cen- 
tral Pacific Railroad, within thirty miles on each side of the line of the 
California and Oregon branch of the Central Pacific Railroad, and 
within thirty miles on each side of the line of the Southern Pacific Rail- 
road. The course of these lines of road can be readily ascertained by 
reference to any late maps of California and Nevada. 

It will be seen that all this country is situated in the midst of what 
will be, within a few years, a perfect network of railroads. Lands, 
therefore, anywhere within this section, must, in consequence of situa- 
tion, outside of their intrinsic worth, increase very rapidly in value. 
But, independent of situation, the general excellent quality of the eoil, 
its great productiveness, its adaptability in many places to almost every 
species of agricultural production, together with the mildness of the 
climate, the bright skies and the equability of the temperature which 
prevails over the greater part of its extent, render it a very desirable 
section for the immigrant or settler who wishes to make a happy home 
in a place where all the comforts and most of the luxuries of life can be 
had with but little trouble, and where industry and thrift will be sure 
to meet with an abundant reward. 

Tracts of not less than eighty acres will be sold, if desired, on a 
credit of five years; that is, twenty per cent, cash in hand, and the re- 
mainder of the purchase money payable at any time within five years, 
with interest at ten per cent, per annum. 

Circulars giving full particulars are supplied gratis. 
Apply to or address, 

B. B. REDDING, Land Agent, 

C. P. & S. p. Railroads, 
Cor. Fourth and To-wnaend Sts., San Francisco, California. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



017 064 144 9 



